No shit eh. I couldn't believe how collected, composed and intelligent Condit was at the end of the fight, let alone when compared to a ranting and clearly emotionally out of control Diaz.

 

I agree about Diaz's head problems and he's not a well spoken guy. No doubt Condit had the recipe for winning a decision, but I was cringing watching it. It was shameful. He was literally RUNNING at points. It wasn't a fight, it was scoring points with no intention of trying to finish.

Diaz's frustration was due to training and trying to FIGHT with an opponent who trained and tried to win a game. GSP of late has done the same thing in a lot of his fights, I hope we don't see a snoozer when the two of them meet.

 

If you have a runner, you have to shut him down with offensive attacks, cut him off, set up traps, and take away his outs. Condit consistently got out of harms way, and it was up to Diaz to contain him, force TD's, combo up on attacks, control the bout, think and act several moves deep. He simply didn't. It was frustrating to me that Condit was tentative instead of taking more chances and letting it fly, and equally frustrating that Diaz didn't put the pressure on, follow through, force it to the ground, work his strengths...He just repeated the same thing over and over, so he was equally responsible for the turnout of the fight---and has absolutely nobody to blame, not the judges, not Condit, just himself.

If anyone thinks Condit should've just stood in front of him and banged, I would totally disagree. Watch the fight again and see Condit engage, get off-angle and fire while exiting, fire while sticking and moving; he combo'd up well, he just didn't commit to going for a finish because he realized Diaz wasn't hurt enough by the strikes to stay in the pocket for very long. Diaz is tough, and Condit is smart. He fought a smart fight, not careless, not foolhardy, and not Diaz's fight. Hats off to Condit for not reacting to Diaz's taunting too, that's something few fighters handle successfully. Condit stuck to his game.

I have more respect for Carlos now than I did before, and I've been watching him for years. He usually has exciting bouts, this was different. This was fought as a precise, technical chess match, not a go-for-broke explosive clash.

Diaz has to dominate, has to fight each fighter distinctly differently, has to change his gameplan when the one he's using is failing. He has to grow mentally to be the best. What he showed last night was when faced with a fighting style he doesn't like, he can't adapt, dominate and finish. No excuses, no blaming, no bitching. He failed to adapt, and lost because of it.

Do I like to see finishes? Absolutely. But in order to finish, you have to commit, contain, control, overwhelm. When Diaz escaped out of the pocket, Diaz didn't commit to containing him, so he had no chance to strike effectively or come close to forcing a ground war. I believe he's capable of it. We all know he is. At all costs, he needed to make it happen. You only get one bite at the apple sometimes. Diaz had plenty.

 

UFC 143 post fight presser - YouTube
UFC 143 postfight: CARLOS CONDIT talks strategy and dealing with trash talk - YouTube

 

I never thought he should stand and bang with a fighter that is more accurate and lives in the pocket like Diaz. Playing to another fighter's strengths isn't the way to win fights. Everyone is talking about how smart his strategy is, and I agree. It is a smart way to win via points given the current rules, and that is what he did.

It was the stand up equiv. of a Sean Sherk fight.

 

I think Carlos is pretty accurate as well, but both the Diaz bro's are incredible in that department. The challenge w/Diaz is that his head is so freakin' tough, it's very hard to rattle him and you'd have to get in the pocket and stay there to combo up and make some progress (or kick over the low hands, which is what Carlos needed to do more). Had Carlos been more confident, I think he could've done serious damage on the inside. Diaz hooks and holds his hands wide, perfect for uppercut attack. But you have to be inside to throw that.

My beef w/Nick is the same as with Carlos. Combo up and commit. Carlos threw some combo's and then disengaged. Nick would throw a shot and not doggedly pursue to continue the combos. That was a major mistake, one that he repeated over and over. I listened to Caesar Gracie talk this morning about how Jackson's coaching develops fighters who run around, how they poured water over Carlos to make him slippery between rounds, how Las Vegas judges are the problem, etc.. The excuses are poor. Nick needed to close the distance, stay on target, stop screwing around and get the job done even if it wasn't in the package he'd have like. Caesar should've had Nick set for plans A and B, but he didn't. Knowing Jackson so well, Caesar should've had Nick automatically expecting stick-and-move action from Carlos. Caesar shares this loss. Don't blame the judges, Jackson or Carlos, just take responsibility for failing to come up with a winning gameplan. Caesar's job is to craft a strategy and tactics to help his fighter win. He didn't get the job done this time. Caesar needs to learn from this and adapt. So does Nick. That's how you win fights. That's the objective in this sport. to win, not just to fight aggressively. It's frustrating, I know, and not the best show perhaps. But there are ways to win which aren't thrilling, and the smart fighters and coaches are finding those ways. So here's where it gets to the next level of strategy, and some camps won't be able to succeed.

 

Tate on Rousey "She's Delusional" -- Inside MMA - YouTube

 

That was the thing. Condit got himself in position and was landing shots, but sticking to his gameplan didn't let him capitalize once he was there. He landed some brilliant combos and had caught Diaz flat footed more than once. As you say, if he was more confident he could have stayed inside and tried to finish.

And yeah, Diaz's issue was that while he was pursuing and pushing the action the entire fight he would just let Condi go once he got him on or close to the cage. It was obvious by the 3rd that he wasn't going to be able to tally up is normal workrate accumulation but he never adjusted.

Both coaches should also STFU, Greg Jackson talking about Ali. Ali tried to finish fights, he never built a gameplan on just movement and out pointing. Cesar talking about water, judging and other nonsense. The fight went the way it went because of the way they both fought, and that's it.

 

This is part of what makes it fun, though, right?

I like hearing all the different POV's, the coaches opposing each other, this is good stuff! I like the good guys and bad guys, the accusations, the gamesmanship, all of it.

Diaz should come back and keep spewing his emotional crap, beat people up, get into wars with good guys, the coaches should yell at each other, love it. I'm just bored I guess...

 

Evans and Glazer Provide Revealing Analysis From the Condit/Diaz Upset - YouTube