UFC 143 Results: Nick Diaz's Loss vs. Carlos Condit Will Cost UFC

UFC had the big money fight it needed to pull itself out of this business funk it has been in when Brock Lesnar is not fighting. Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre was the fight that both men wanted and the fans were desperate to see it happen. 

As is often the case in sports, things don't always work out the way that you would like. St-Pierre suffered a torn ACL late last year and was going to be out of action for most of 2012. 

This led to UFC president Dana White putting Diaz into a fight with Carlos Condit at UFC 143 for the interim welterweight title.

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Condit did what he had to do over the course of a five-round fight to walk away with a unanimous decision victory.

Diaz did not like the decision, but there was no doubt that Condit did more during the 25 minutes in the octagon and deserved to be crowned the champion. 

This was a huge setback for Diaz and the UFC, however. It will have huge ramifications on everything that happens the rest of the year. For what it's worth, Diaz claimed that he was done with mixed martial arts after the decision was rendered. 

From MMA Junkie:

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"I've not going to accept the fact that this is a loss," Diaz said. "I pushed him back the whole fight, I walked him down, and I was the guy on top.

"You guys pay me a ton, but I don't think I'm getting enough to keep going on. ... I don't need this [expletive]. I pushed this guy back the whole fight. ... I don't want to play this game anymore."

"

While it is impossible to believe anything that comes out of Diaz's mouth, it is important for the UFC to realize how much money they lost with this one fight. 

Condit might be a great fighter, but he is not a drawing card. If you saw his story on the countdown specials before this event, you know that he is as dry as toast. 

Everyone wanted to see Diaz challenge St-Pierre because of the way that he berated the true champion after defeating B.J. Penn in October. 

Instead of hearing Diaz and St-Pierre go back and forth in press conferences, we will be subjected to a build up where both guys are talking about how much they like and respect one another. That silence you hear is the world yawning. 

So while Condit deserves to be the interim champion today, Diaz and the UFC blew a golden opportunity to cash in on one of the few marquee fights that we haven't seen. 

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