UFC 120: Carlos Condit Wants To Shut Dan Hardy Up And Make Him Eat His Words

Tomorrow at UFC 120 at the 02 Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico's own Carlos Condit (25-5) will take on Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (23-7) in the co-main event.

The former WEC champ has had a bit of a rough going in the UFC and hasn't quite looked as dominant as he was in the WEC.

Condit has now moved back home to Albuquerque after a brief stint with Arizona Combat to train at Greg Jackson's so he could not only improve as a fighter but be closer to home with his newborn son.

Bleacher Report's own Andrew Gladstone spoke with Condit before his bout with Hardy for UFC 120 and responded to the insulting comments Hardy made this past Saturday in the UK paper the Independent.

You originally trained in Albuquerque with Tom Vaughn and then moved to Arizona Combat, and now you’re back in Albuquerque training with Greg Jackson.    What are your reasons for moving? 

“My reason to moving to Phoenix in the first place was that the place I was training at, I really felt stagnant.  Under training with them, they didn’t give me the option of training elsewhere, so I felt I had to part ways.”

“I had good training in Phoenix, I had great training partners and I worked on a lot of my stuff.  I ended up moving back to Albuquerque because I just started a family with my fiancé and I just wanted to be home near the family.

Do you still keep in contact and have a relationship with Vaughn? 

“No, at this point I don’t.”

Was there any hesitance on your part, being that Georges St. Pierre trains at Jackson’s and you’re looking to get a shot at the belt one day? 

"I didn’t really hesitate.  The nature of this sport these days is that guys train all over the place and you may eventually fight someone who trains at your camp.  I felt that, that was the place for me.  I’ll fight with Georges St. Pierre, we’ll just have to discuss that when the time comes." 

Have you spent any time training with St. Pierre yet?  Or do you guys train separately?

“No I haven’t really had a chance.  He hasn’t been in Albuquerque much, he’s been busy with training and coaching the Ultimate Fighter and I think when he was in town I was having my son and so I wasn’t in the gym much.”

Congrats on the kid.  What’s your son’s name?

“Thank you, his name is Owen Thomas.”

Everyone and their mother seem to ask you about transitioning from the WEC to the UFC.  I’m curious however on what you miss most about fighting for the WEC? 

“Being the champion was great, the WEC is an awesome organization.  They’ve really blown up and I’m really proud with how far they’ve come. 

“I’m glad I’m with the UFC now, there’s just more opportunities for sponsors and I never have to answer the question how would I do in the UFC anymore.”

On to your opponent Dan Hardy, he most recently said in an interview that you don’t have the wrestling or the athleticism St. Pierre has, he also says how St. Pierre has better jiu-jitsu.  I was wondering what your take is on that?

“He’s right, I’m not the athlete that Georges is and I’m not as good of a wrestler.  But honestly to beat Hardy, I don’t think I need to be.  I’m a pretty decent wrestler and Hardy doesn’t have any takedown defense, so I think that’s going to be a pretty big factor in the fight.”

Being that Dan Hardy obviously fought at UFC 111, I’m sure that you’ve seen some of the tape on that.  What do you think you can take from that fight?

“I think that if put him into situations where I’m threatening with the submissions that I’m not going to hesitate to do damage to him.  Whether he taps or whether he doesn’t, I’m going to do damage to him.”

In your past few fights, you’ve seemed to started bit slow in the first round.  Were you still getting acclimated to fighting to the UFC?

“I think it was more the change in camp that had a factor in that.”

We’ve seen in the past that you like to come forward a lot and bring the action.  Do you think against Hardy you’ll do the same, or will you fight a much more technical this time around?

“I’m going to fight like myself, I like to put on an exciting show for the fans.  We’ll see how it goes, but I think pushing the pace will definitely be to my advantage.”

Do you feel a win over Hardy will put you back into the top 10?

“Definitely.”

At UFC 121 two men you’ve faced before in Martin Kampmann and Jake Shields will do battle and the winner is likely in the welterweight title mix.  Who do you think win the fight?  And do you see yourself meeting either fighter again in the future?

“I don’t know who will win that fight, but I think I’m leaning towards Jake Shields but Martin Kampmann is a more well-rounded fighter.  To answer your question I’d definitely like to fight either of them and get one of those losses back.

Is there anything else you’d like to say in closing?

“I’m just looking forward to the fight, I’m looking forward to represent my country and my hometown and I’m looking forward to shutting up Dan Hardy and making him eat his words.”