Unlikely WEC champion, Carlos Condit, heads into rematch with Carlo Prater on Feb. 13
By: Robert Moore
Carlos Condit doesn’t resemble a fighter, much less a champion of a major MMA organization. He looks like a college student, normal and unassuming — certainly nothing at all like his nickname, “Natural Born Killer.”
But once he enters the cage, the WEC welterweight champion becomes something else entirely. Condit turns into a scowling, lethal mixed martial artist.
“I’m not your typical fighter,” Condit revealed in a recent interview at WEC.com. “I’m not a super muscular guy, I don’t have tattoos or a cool mohawk. People don’t give me my due as a tenacious or dangerous fighter. These people doubt me and its fuel for the fire.”
This Albuquerque, New Mexico, native takes the road less traveled. Instead of training with local MMA guru, Greg Jackson, and his stable of high profile fighter’s like Keith Jardine, Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, etc., Condit chooses to workout down the street at FIT NHB.
Here’s another snip from Condit:
“I have a lot of guys out of my camp that you haven’t heard of, but you will soon. We don’t have a lot of big name guys, but we have the guys that you need to be successful. The formula that we’re using, and the tools we have at my school — that’s what has brought me the success that I’ve had.”
Condit’s rematch with Carlo Prater (one of his four defeats) on February 13 should prove to be an exciting bout. With all his recent success, Condit isn’t taking Prater lightly.
Another snip:
“He’s a good jiu jitsu fighter and has good Muay Thai. He’s pretty good in the clinch, a very talented fighter and a legitimate contender.”
Condit later went on to explain in the interview, “I’m leaps and bounds from where I used to be back then. It doesn’t haunt me at all. It’s not even in the back of my mind, really. It’s a motivating factor for sure, but that was about three and a half years ago. I hate to make excuses, but back then I did it more as a hobby. These days this is my livelihood and what I do for a living. I know the mistakes that I made and I’ve remedied those problems.”
The Santa Ana Star Center should be packed with many of the champ’s hometown fans on fight night. One of these attendees will be New Mexico governor and former Presidential candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson — Condit’s father is a high ranking staffer in Richardson’s cabinet.
Condit recently revealed his mantra for life. And he hopes that it will hold true for his rematch with Prater.
Final snip:
“We make our own destiny in this world. Your destiny is basically in your hands right now.”
Condit — unlike most of us — has second chance to chart his own destiny in the rematch with Prater next week on Versus. Don’t miss it.
15 Comments »
hes a monster you gotta like him
“the natural born killer”
one of the dopest nicknames in mma….any suggestions?
Yeah this man is awesome. I’d love to see them move him up to the UFC. Watching him fight big names would be exciting.
He is sick, the kid has talent…I would LOVE to see him step out of the WEC and move over to the UFC. I wish the UFC would really start to pull fighters and use the WEC as a farm league. I would love to see all of their title holders get a chance to fight in the UFC.
Dana make it happen! You promised us the best fights…the WEC has about 7 to 10 guys I would love to see move up.
i love this guy besides serra hes my favorite fighter. hes great conditioned, he fast pace, he enjoys fighting, i love his jiu jitsu and hes an excellent striker. i think he should move up cant wait to see him fight again.
Condit is tough as nails, he’s only 23 yrs or so, he’s on his way to doing extremely well.
Eventually he’ll be separated from the pack and ready to take on a UFC title… give him a few more years
Condit is about the same size as Joe Lauzon… He could cut to 155 and be a force in the UFC.
The other alternative is to beef up… Pack on muscle and cut for his welterweight fights.
[quote comment=”299765″]Condit is tough as nails, he’s only 23 yrs or so, he’s on his way to doing extremely well.[/quote]
Thorazine: He is only 23? Wow that kid has a bright future ahead of him.
Dude Tim Sylvia has 1 fight left on his contract and he hints at not re-signing with the UFC. Check it out:
Today…
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Tim
i have one fight left on my contract i want to stay with the ufc but i am going to go were the money is right now Brock is making more m0ney then me that has to change i have a better name then him and i am a better fighter then him, i case u didn’t know my manager runs m1 so i have a pretty good in so we will see what happens in the next few months.
I’m sure the UFC is likely to keep him around…but if they don’t then a Tim/Fedor match could happen soon.
Just caught a new interview with Sherk…..He sid he will NEVER fight in California again. Thats where he got caught cheating.
Rei Zulu(who fought Rickson back in the day) father of Zuluzinho keeps fighting?
I saw a interesting video on sherdog with the legendary brazilian vale tudo fighter Rei Zulu who is 58 and still fighting (in 2007 he had 3 fights!) my question is
is it safe for a man of hes age to continue to fight and how would it look on MMA overall if he did get seriously or fatally injured???
[quote comment=”300062″]Dude Tim Sylvia has 1 fight left on his contract and he hints at not re-signing with the UFC. Check it out:
Today…
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Tim
i have one fight left on my contract i want to stay with the ufc but i am going to go were the money is right now Brock is making more m0ney then me that has to change i have a better name then him and i am a better fighter then him, i case u didn’t know my manager runs m1 so i have a pretty good in so we will see what happens in the next few months.
I’m sure the UFC is likely to keep him around…but if they don’t then a Tim/Fedor match could happen soon.[/quote]
It’s scary to think that the UFC could lose two marquee names in the HW division with Arlovski and Sylvia. If M-1 got both of them and then maybe pulled in Barnett…that makes for a nice base for a new startup competitor. I can see how many of the fighters might be a bit jealous of Brock’s contract…he had only one fight coming into the UFC so for some they have to be scratching their heads. They have to realize that Brock brought a huge fan base with him and a lot of hype and the UFC had to pay for those as well.
[quote comment=”300074″][quote comment=”300062″]Dude Tim Sylvia has 1 fight left on his contract and he hints at not re-signing with the UFC. Check it out:
Today…
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Tim
i have one fight left on my contract i want to stay with the ufc but i am going to go were the money is right now Brock is making more m0ney then me that has to change i have a better name then him and i am a better fighter then him, i case u didn’t know my manager runs m1 so i have a pretty good in so we will see what happens in the next few months.
I’m sure the UFC is likely to keep him around…but if they don’t then a Tim/Fedor match could happen soon.[/quote]
It’s scary to think that the UFC could lose two marquee names in the HW division with Arlovski and Sylvia. If M-1 got both of them and then maybe pulled in Barnett…that makes for a nice base for a new startup competitor. I can see how many of the fighters might be a bit jealous of Brock’s contract…he had only one fight coming into the UFC so for some they have to be scratching their heads. They have to realize that Brock brought a huge fan base with him and a lot of hype and the UFC had to pay for those as well.[/quote]
UFC should start taking M-1 seriously and realize that they could loose Marquee fighters to that company. If M-1 can sign the top HW’s thats great start. You control the mma heavyweight division, and like u said…u have a great base to start from.
Speaking of Heavyweights:
Why in the world doesnt the UFC sign Sergei Kharitonov?
I have absolutely no idea why, the UFC hasn’t signed this guy yet…He’s an EXCELLENT fighter, great heart, bit crazy, much more marketable than Sylvia, Nog, AA etc. maybe even Lesnar…could K1 offered him more money?He loves Japan?Doesn’t like how the UFC treats his fighters?Or what?
His KO of a fat “Ninja” Rua back in PRIDE was awesome.
I’m happy to see that Carlos Condit is starting to get some of the MMA mainstream attention. Ever since I first seen this kid fight, I’ve been saying that he is for real. He is almost ready to compete at the Top 10 level of the UFC WW division. Carlos comes off as the type of kid that is not in a rush as far as his career is concerned. He wants to take the proper progressions to be the best fighter he can be.
Zuffa buying the WEC and putting them on Versus was the greatest thing that could have happened for up and coming fighters.
Hey Mania…does the rumor below have any substance to it…that Faber vs. Pulver might be PPV!? If so that BLOWS!! Faber shouldn’t hit PPV until he’s in the big dance and that being the UFC. I think he’s ready…past ready and would be a great addition to 155 and an immediate top 5.
Urijah Faber
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)
Hometown: Sacramento, Calif.
Record: 20-1
2007 results: def. Jeff Curran, submission R2, Dec. 12
Analysis: Is the California Kid ready for pay-per-view? Faber’s next title defense, against Jens Pulver, will take place in either April or May, with his hometown of Sacramento and Reno mentioned as potential sites. There are also rumblings the card might be held on pay-per-view instead of basic cable.