Ride Off Into the Sunset, Carlos Condit

It seems so simple, effortless even, but it’s not so easy for the guy who might as well be wearing a straitjacket struggling with a human backpack.

Demian Maia is the backpack, a master grappler that at 38 has succeeded in reducing the complicated game of mixed martial arts to his core competency. He takes his opponents down, slices through their guard, and waits patiently to set up a submission. In this unique sport, “waiting patiently” includes punches to the face and making your opponent feel all of your 170+ pounds. Over his past four fights, all against fighters that currently rank among the 15 best in UFC’s welterweight division, Maia has absorbed 13 significant strikes according to Fight Metric. Despite his advanced age, Maia has become the most efficient fighter on the UFC roster – finding the most success while taking the least damage.

Contrast him to Carlos Condit, a tremendously talented and successful fighter famous for his durability – a code meaning he had to take some to give a whole lot back. Prior to the Maia bout, you would have to travel back five years to find the last fight in which Condit absorbed 13 significant strikes or fewer. That fight, against Dong Hyun Kim in which he absorbed just one significant strike per Fight Metric’s count, ended with a spectacular first-round knockout. More often, Condit wades into a fight’s deep waters, creating wars of attrition that will go down as classics.
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This January, Condit narrowly missed the world championship in a five-rounder with Robbie Lawler that is a frontrunner for fight of the year and produced one of the most exciting fifth rounds in history. Condit took 82 significant strikes to the head in that one, all from a famous power puncher. Against Maia, Condit absorbed just one significant strike – an elbow that seemed so innocuous that it didn’t make it into most blow-by-blow accounts of the fight. However, it could prove to be the most meaningful blow of Condit’s career.

In interviews after the bout, Condit spoke of being rocked by Maia’s elbow and how that made him give up his back to the jiu-jitsu ace. Upon review, the shot didn’t appear to be one that would typically be a game-changer, much less against the strong-chinned Condit. It’s troubling when blows that a fighter would have walked through in the past start to make them stop in their tracks or retreat. At the post-fight press conference, Condit drew the same conclusions. “Honestly, I’ve had a tough career with a lot of fights, and I’ve taken a lot of punishment,” he said. “I don’t know if I can continue to take shots, honestly.”

Whereas Demain Maia’s less taxing style has partially enabled him to reach new heights at an advanced age, Condit Condit, 32, is openly mulling retirement. He’s thought about it since at least the Lawler fight, when he began to talk about it openly, but it became a much more real possibility on Saturday. While Condit spoke of retirement around the Lawler fight, he displayed no signs of the wear and tear that would lead a fighter to make that decision. Against Maia, the elbow was clear sign that the wear and tear accumulated over the years was catching up to him; perhaps getting out is for the best. Condit deserves a better end, but in most similar cases, chasing that better end only results in an even worse finale.

Condit made his professional debut at age 18 in 2001, and mostly fought locally in New Mexico in his early career. However, his breakout moment occurred in Hawaii. Condit was the youngest competitor in the 2006 Rumble on the Rock eight-man welterweight tournament that included Anderson Silva, Jake Shields, Yushin Okami, Frank Trigg, and ex-UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne. Renato Verissimo, BJ Penn’s jiu-jitsu close who had fought closely with Matt Hughes in the UFC two years earlier, drew Condit in round one. Condit knocked him down with an early knee and finished him with grounded knees in seconds. In the next round, Condit submitted Frank Trigg in 82 seconds. The upset party ended in the finals when Condit ran into Jake Shields, but he had garnered attention.
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A year later, Condit was brought into the WEC, which had been purchased by Zuffa in December 2006 and gotten television on Versus. Condit became the face of the promotion’s welterweight division when he submitted John Alessio to win the welterweight strap. One year and two defenses later, the WEC was hotter than ever on the back of Urijah Faber and his match with Jens Pulver at WEC 34. At WEC 35, Condit headlined a card with three championship bouts against Hiromitsu Miura. Condit won a war, and then headed off to the UFC, which had absorbed the WEC’s heavier weight classes.

Condit entered the UFC with a prime opportunity. Fresh welterweight title contenders were thin for champion Georges St-Pierre, and a couple of wins would have put Condit inside the cage with the champion. He debuted in a television main event against Martin Kampmann. Unfortunately, the two were limited to three rounds, but they still put on one of the year’s best fights. The judges scored a split decision for Kampmann.

Condit left the Kampmann fight behind him and began his ascension in the welterweight division, but it was tough going initially. He won a difficult fight (again one of the year’s best) against Jake Ellenberger before coming from behind to take out Rory MacDonald. In October 2010, he was matched with Dan Hardy, who was coming off an unsuccessful challenge to St-Pierre’s crown. Condit gave notice to the division with a stunning first round knockout and followed it with another highlight reel KO against Dong Hyun Kim.

Firmly in the title hunt, Condit had a date with BJ Penn for UFC 137 in October 2011, with St-Pierre defending against Nick Diaz in the main event. When Diaz refused to fulfill media obligations, UFC pulled him from the championship match and replaced him with Condit. However, 11 days before the show, St-Pierre withdrew due to injury, leaving Condit out of a fight. Diaz proceeded to beat Penn in the new main event, and called out by St-Pierre and Condit afterward. When St-Pierre’s next defense was rescheduled, Diaz got the opportunity instead of Condit.

UFC tabbed Condit to face Josh Koscheck at UFC 143 while St-Pierre fought Diaz, but St-Pierre tore his ACL and UFC scrambled for new plans. The show was now headlined by Condit and Diaz for the interim welterweight title, and was built with a three-week UFC Primetime series. In a close fight that drew 400,000 pay-per-view buys, Condit defeated Diaz to take the title. Plans for an immediate rematch were curtailed when Diaz failed his post-fight drug test. Instead, Condit sat on the sidelines for his long-awaited match with St-Pierre.

November 17, 2012, was the biggest fight of Carlos Condit’s career. It had been more than 18 months since St-Pierre’s last fight, which marked his record-setting sixth welterweight title defense. St-Pierre’s biggest strength was Condit’s biggest weakness – wrestling, so most figured Condit would go down as successful defense number seven. Of course, Condit found himself on his back for the majority of the fight, but his attack from there was relentless and never allowed St-Pierre comfort. In the third round, Condit nearly made history with a head kick that put the champion down. However, St-Pierre recovered and even won the round on two judges’ cards. Condit lost a predictable decision, but his stock rose in the process.

The following March, Condit fought tooth and nail with Johny Hendricks. Although he ultimately lost a unanimous decision, the loss didn’t seem to hurt his stock – many felt that if the fight had been a five-rounder, the result would have been different.

After avenging his defeat to Kampmann, Condit went against Tyron Woodley, losing due to a knee injury in the second round of a fight he had been losing up to that point. It took a year to recover, but he got back to work against Thiago Alves, winning via doctor’s stoppage.

The night of Condit’s injury, Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks battled for the vacant welterweight title. Hendricks won a close one, but Lawler took the belt in a return match. With the UFC not eager to give Hendricks another shot at the belt despite being the most deserving, the UFC went with Condit to challenge Lawler in January 2016. It was Condit’s volume against Lawler’s power in an epic clash. The large majority of media members scored the fight for Condit, but two judges went with Lawler.

If this is the end of the road for Carlos Condit, he certainly left a rich body of work to remember him by.

Dan Plunkett has covered MMA for 411Mania since 2008. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Dan_Plunkett.