UFC 143: What Needs to Go Right for a Nick Diaz Win over Carlos Condit

The UFC 143 main event between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit has been highly anticipated ever since the fight was first announced. Now we are finally here. The interim title fight between Diaz and Condit will finally happen.

Some won’t admit it, but despite Carlos Condit being an extremely tough fighter, the vast majority of fans are already looking past UFC 143 toward the seemingly inevitable showdown between Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre.

So what needs to go right for us to get there?

Well with Nick Diaz, it’s never as simple as a specific formula. Unlike fighters who go in with an attempt to win rounds, Diaz is a guy who steps into every fight with the intention of finishing opponents in a brutal fashion, whether it be by submission or knockout.

While this killer instinct is one of the things that makes him so exciting, it can also be one of his biggest weaknesses.

We’ve seen Diaz rocked before against some powerful strikers like Paul Daley, and while Condit might not have quite that same power, he may have superior technique. That could end up being even more dangerous for Diaz than the pure power of Daley.

Most would agree that the boxing game is where Diaz is best, but it’s also Condit’s. “The Natural Born Killer” has a great overall game, but if he wants to win this fight, he’s going to need to knock out Nick Diaz. He’s not going to out-wrestle him, he’s not going to have better cardio and drag him to a decision... If Condit wins, Diaz is going to have to go to sleep.

This should mean a fairly easy game plan for Diaz in the main event.

It’s simple, Nick: keep your chin down and your hands up. Don’t get cocky and you’ll walk out with a win and the ticket to fight GSP sometime later this year.