UFC 143 Results: Carlos Condit Didn't “Run,” He Fought the Smart Fight

The UFC 143 main event between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz is already highly controversial. Many fans believe that Nick Diaz was robbed of a decision when the judges gave the fight to Condit, declaring him the new UFC interim welterweight champion.

The chief argument from those supporting Diaz seems to be that he pushed the pace throughout the fight and continued to back Condit down throughout all five rounds. This frustrating and intense pace has broken many fighters in the past who tried to stand with their backs against the fence and exchange with Diaz.

But Condit didn’t do that.

On Saturday night, Condit refused to play into Diaz’s game, and he did what no one else has been able to do against him in a long, long time—he took Nick Diaz out of his comfort zone and frustrated the hell out of him by fighting the smart fight.

Fighting out of Greg Jackson’s camp, it should come as no surprise that Condit was going to come into the bout with an excellent gameplan. But few could have expected that the plan would be to use Diaz’s zombie-like fighting style against him by baiting the Stockton native in, catching him with a couple shots and then bouncing away like a kangaroo.

It didn’t start off very well for Condit, as most would agree that Diaz won the first round. Many even believe that he won the second round. But after two rounds of taking leg kick after leg kick, Diaz seemed to slow down.

That’s when Condit took over the fight.

The fourth and fifth rounds were fairly decisively Condit’s. He landed some nice combinations and didn’t take much damage at all. He continued to use his elusiveness to avoid Diaz’s punches and even avoided most of the countless kicks that Diaz shocked us by throwing.

You can call it whatever you want, but Carlos Condit did what he needed to do in order to win the fight. He fought smart, he avoided taking damage and he doesn’t deserve this criticism that he’s getting.

“Running” is what Kalib Starnes did against Nate Quarry at UFC 83.

Take a look at Nick Diaz’s face. Ask him how his lead leg feels tomorrow.

Carlos Condit didn’t run. He defined the phrase “stick and move” all the way to a championship.

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron