Music to listen to: Girl I Love You by Massive Attack
Before I preview UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit, here are some quick thoughts on UFC on Fox 2
-Phil Davis should have no shame in losing to Rashad Evans. While I did have the fight marked as 50-45 in favor of Evans on my scorecard, I thought Evans did OK for his first main event on a high-caliber UFC card. Evans is a tough fighter to engage with and Davis’ already robotic standup attack looked even slower against the quicker winner. Davis may actually be too muscular to compete with the faster fighters in the light heavyweight division. I saw limited movement not through a lack of effort but because of body shape. However, I still think Davis can be a championship contender in whatever division he ends up in because the solid wresting base and good submission skills are a good templte to work against.
-I don’t think Jon Jones suffered any worries seeing Evans’ effort in the octagon. While this is mixed martial arts and anything can happen, if Jones comes into the fight against Evans focused, I find it very difficult seeing Evans emerging from that fight with a victory.
-Don’t let Chael Sonen’s off-night make him any less of a contender for the UFC middleweight title. I was actually impressed more with Bisping’s wrestling skills combating against Sonnen’s attacks more than anything. I thought Bisping came in with a solid gameplan and almost executed the victory.
While there was some talk that Sonnen’s effort against Bisping was due to a bad weight cut, I think part of it was also looking beyond Bisping and towards Anderson Silva. I think Sonnen will be very prepared to face Silva when that fight does happen.
However, while I scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Sonnen, I can see anybody making a case for Bisping to win that fight.
-I stated on Twitter that the Chris Weidman/Demian Maia fight wouldn’t make the cut for the inevitable Best of UFC 2012 DVD that’s going to come out. Someone thought it was funny, maybe you will too.
However, respect to Weidman for taking the fight on short notice, making the weight through a massive cut and getting the victory in the end.
On to UFC 143…
Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit: This matchup for the interim welterweight title matches two opponents who toiled for years outside of the UFC and finally get a shot at the top title in the premier MMA organization in the world.
Condit was the king of the WEC promotion and has a 4-1 record in the UFC. The lone loss came in his debut against Martin Kampmann in a close decision in April 2009. Since then, Condit holds impressive victories over Jake Ellenberger, Rory McDonald, Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim, with the last two opponents not even making it past the first round. The New Mexico product’s strength continues to be outstanding standup skills along with strong takedown defense. The flying knee knockout of Kim shows that Condit continues to be a dangerous kickboxer who uses his long limps to gain distance from the opponent, which results in victories.
Diaz’s antics and personality will be analyzed another time there shouldn’t be a doubt that he has been the second-best welterweight fighter in the world for the last five years. Most of Diaz’s dominance took place in Strikeforce during this period but he returned to the UFC in a resounding fashion in dominating B.J. Penn in October 2011. Diaz has developed into one of the top boxers in MMA, also using long limps to assert strong pressure on his opponent over a long period grounded with arguably the best stamina in the division. Diaz is also a dangerous ground fighter as well with submission skills but this element of his game has been suppressed in his latest fights.
The key to the fight will be whether Condit can hold up to the constant pressure of Diaz. The good news for Condit is that his ability to stay outside of the pocket of the opponent yet gain offensive attacks of his own will be helpful. The bad news is that Diaz will continue to come forward and hasn’t been stopped in a fight outside of a doctor’s decision since September 2002 against Jeremy Jackson, which means that the fight may go to the judges and the visibly aggressive fighter has the advantage in gaining the decision.
Prediction: Diaz by decision.
Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum: Both of these guys are arguably in the top-five in the heavyweight division in relation to jiu-jitsu, so if the fight get to the ground, it will be a treat for those who like to see the ground attacks of the larger fighters in MMA.
Nelson’s stamina always lies as an issue with prognosticators because of his physical look. However, outside of a disappointing effort against Frank Mir, which may have been the result of coming to the fight with a sickness, Nelson has the ability to dictate the pace of the fight, has high durability and rarely gets stopped in a fight.
Werdum has the ability to submit any fighter in the division but struggles in the standup.
Prediction: Nelson by decision
Here are my picks for the rest of the main card:
Josh Koscheck def. Mike Pierce via decision
Renan Pegado def. Scott Jorgensen via TKO
Ed Herman def. Clifford Starks via TKO
The Sports Inquirer 
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