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Just days after Carlos Condit defied the weight of public expectation and beat Nick Diaz via unanimous decision; it was announced that on May 5th they will fight a rematch for the welterweight interim title. As a fan who loves fights, I am grateful I’ll get to see two great fighters face off a second time.

But why was a rematch even considered?  After watching UFC 143’s main event, I scored the fight 3 rounds to 2 in favour of Carlos Condit with Nick Diaz taking the first and last rounds. The stats from the fight show that Diaz landed more punches while Condit landed more kicks and strikes overall. Diaz secured a takedown in the final round and attempted a submission with about one minute to go. Without the benefit of these stats, the score I noted was 48-47 for Condit.

All three judges scored the fight for Condit though they had different scores. When we add in that Condit landed more strikes as well as the fact that he completely stifled the game-plan of the man acknowledged as one of the finest boxers in MMA, the decision makes sense. So again, why the rematch?

As an aside, let us applaud Condit for taking the fight at all when there is no obligation for him to do so. He is it doing it confident in the knowledge that he can beat Diaz again and no doubt he will be motivated by the doubt surrounding the original result. But why is Diaz being accommodated? Is the UFC really afraid of losing Nick Diaz after his bleating about retirement and Condit ‘running’ from him the entire fight? Condit executed the perfect stick-and-move game plan using a cool head and great cardio to excellent effect. He sacrificed his usual explosiveness in favour of a tactic more likely to yield results against a man who hasn’t been knocked out in years.

He did it for five rounds and never became flustered by the constant taunting coming from his opponent. Certainly, Diaz spent the majority of the fight on the front foot but since when does simply walking forward earn you a win? The fight is judged –among other things – on effective aggression. So, while moving forward is certainly a plus, moving forward while being out-struck is not enough. Only once did Diaz manage to land the barrage of body shots against the cage that he is famed for. And that is where Octagon control is also important. Who is to say who had control of the Octagon during the fight?

Diaz walked after Condit who landed his blows and got out of the pocket, forcing Diaz to come after him again. It’s the same plan Dominick Cruz used to beat Urijah Faber and nobody thought to question that result. Considering Condit’s tactics in the fight it would be implausible to suggest Nick Diaz was controlling the Octagon.

After the fight, Diaz said he thought he was winning the fight on the scorecards which is why he didn’t choke out Condit toward the end of the last round. He was certainly in an excellent position having taken Condit’s back with hooks in. But regardless of what he thought the score was on the judge’s cards, why didn’t he didn’t he sink in the choke anyway, if the opportunity was there? Dana White’s mantra as we well know is “don’t leave it in the hands of the judges” and for Diaz to forgo a submission opportunity because he thought he was winning is doing exactly that.

Ultimately that decision cost him the largely empty title of ‘Interim Champion’ and the loss itself will have been what hurt most rather than being awarded a replica of GSP’s belt. To a certain extent I can almost understand why Diaz and his fans (amongst which I count myself) might feel aggrieved. But the fact remains that did not do enough to win the fight. His pace in the early rounds was way off what we usually see from him and even later on he never really got into top gear. Perhaps the anger we saw from him after the bell was directed more at himself. Maybe Caesar Gracie needs to stop defending his every word and action so Diaz can grow up a bit. Either way, unless Condit was guaranteed a title shot at some point in the future, regardless of the outcome on May 5th, the decision to book a rematch with Diaz is harsh on the man who was largely forgotten about in the lead up to UFC 143.

Maybe Condit is so confident of winning again that he sees at a s good way to stay active en-route to GSP. Or perhaps the UFC insisted that it’s two biggest available welterweight stars go at it again while the biggest star of them all recovers from his injury. Whatever the reason, I can’t help but think it’s all a little unfair.

Alan Keane

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