“Where I come from, people who lose close fights retire.” Props: UFC.com

While watching UFC 143 from the comfort of my favorite dive bar last night, I knew that MMA fans would be waging war on the internet over the fights that went the distance. Between the two point deduction that cost “Bruce Leroy” his fight against Edwin Figueroa and Josh Koscheck’s close fight with the “undeserving” Mike Pierce, I knew that I could expect a long-winded, philosophical debate over what constitutes a fight and what doesn’t- whether abstract concepts like “control” and “aggression” mean more than punches thrown, and whether takedowns earned and stuffed negate an inferior striking display. Naturally, this debate would include a lot of ad hominems and off topic ranting, because that’s just par for the course online.

And that was before the main event of the evening, which saw Carlos Condit earn a close decision over Nick Diaz. Carlos Condit used backward and lateral footwork while outstriking Nick Diaz, yet many fans felt that Nick Diaz should have won the fight. Before the fight even ended, the debate already began on whether “Octagon control” necessarily means “the guy moving forward”, and whether counter-punchers should automatically be considered less aggressive than their opponents. Judging from the comments sections of today’s articles, that debate won’t be ending any time soon.

Benjamin Disraeli once said that there are three types of lies: Lies, damned lies and statistics. For the time being, let’s move our arguments about last night’s fights past the first two. Let’s now turn our focus towards the statistics from last night’s close decisions. FightMetric’s breakdowns of Riddle vs. Martinez, Figueroa vs. Caceres, Koscheck vs. Pierce and, of course, Diaz vs. Condit have been published, and are available after the jump.

“Come on, Nick. Tell us how you *really* feel.” (Video: ZombieProphet)

Though he fought in a cage only ten yards wide, Nick Diaz must have felt like he was fighting on a football field last night. For five rounds he stalked Carlos Condit but was unable able to pin him in any of the Octagon’s eight corners. In true Stockton fashion, he never stopped pressing forward and was always the aggressor, but did he exhibit ‘Octagon Control’? As we generally define the term, yes. As it’s actually defined, no. Diaz didn’t want to keep circling and chasing Condit; he wanted to trap him against the cage and unload merciless combinations–basically, to fight him in a phone booth. The reason he didn’t was because Condit executed his game plan perfectly and dictated the flow of the fight. Even if that wasn’t the case and Diaz was in full control of the bout, let’s not start pretending that we love nothing more than a fight full of ‘Octagon Control’. As fans we value effective striking and grappling above position and pace. So too should the judges.

(Don’t be a hero. Just throw your lunch money onto the stage with everybody else’s. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com For more photos from this set, click here.)

Tonight, the UFC is putting an interim welterweight belt on the line, to be decided by two gamebred sons-of-bitches who go out to take scalps, not win points. If Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit isn’t a thrilling fight, I’ll eat my hat. Plus: Roy Nelson welcomes Fabricio Werdum back to the Octagon, Josh Koscheck slugs it out with his evil twin Mike Pierce, and Scott Jorgenson does his best to snap the 27-fight win streak of Renan Barao.

Handling play-by-play for tonight’s action is interim liveblog champion Aaron Mandel. Follow us after the jump for live results from the UFC 143 pay-per-view card, beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please use the comments section to let us know how we can better serve you.

Props: Youtube.com/UFC

With only a few hours until the main card of UFC 142, and only one day until Super Bowl XLVI, we’re killing two birds with one stone with this video of current (and former) NFL players making their predictions for tonight’s main event. In yet another example of how far our sport has come towards gaining mainstream acceptance, the seven players interviewed genuinely seem to be fans of mixed martial arts as they pick Nick Diaz over Carlos Condit, five votes to two.

Obviously, FOX Football Analyst Michael Strahan seems to deliver the most informed, thought out opinion on the fight as he explains his reasoning behind picking Nick Diaz to win. However, the rest of those interviewed aren’t too far behind him. Well, maybe not Eli Manning- though his stoic, soft spoken personality makes him hard to figure out.

(Vid Props to YouTube/MixedMartialArts)

Last night marked the end of a great run for the Primetime series as it followed the two fighters headlining tonight’s pay per view card. We’ve learned a lot more about Carlos Condit, the wayward youth turned loving father and professional fighter, while playing armchair psychologist to Nick Diaz along the way. The crews shadowing these two 24/7 did the heavy lifting, so we’ll just pop the video up above and make our little jokes after the jump.

Don’t blink- someone’s getting their ass motorboated tonight. (Video: YouTube/UFC)

Though reported to have gone down in Las Vegas, last night’s weigh-ins clearly took place in Bizarro World. How else could you explain a slim(mer) Roy Nelson, Josh Koscheck being the victim of bullying, and Nick Diaz comporting himself like a true gentleman?

We were denied a glimpse of “Big Medium Country” at the memorable UFC 137 weigh-ins back in October, but last night he tipped the scales some fourteen pounds lighter than he did when squaring off against Frank Mir last May. Could it be he’s serious about that drop to light heavyweight?

Koscheck hasn’t had much to say about his foe—aside from having to look him up after the fight was signed—but Mike Pierce provoked him further by donning a pretty accurate wig during their staredown. Considering that Pierce called him out in the first place, he either knows something we don’t or is setting himself up for a lesson in humility this evening.

And as for Diaz, there’s not much to say beyond how civilized he looked. No, he didn’t bro hug ‘Conduit‘ after the face-off, but the ruffian we know and love was nowhere to be seen. First a handshake at the presser, and now no mean mug? Could it be that the ‘Pride of Stockton’ has failed to muster up the hatred for his opponent that usually fuels his fights, and if so, does it even matter?

Full weigh-in results, and a closer look at the Diaz-Condit stare-down after the jump.

(“Hey, my eyes are up here, asshole.”)

Discussing MMA is a lot like discussing politics; what starts off as a friendly difference of opinion more than often spirals into an alcohol-fueled debate, rife with personal insults and name calling, before ending in a sloppy wrestling match that gets both parties banned from their boss’s wine tasting parties for life. Luckily, we have Doug “ReX13″ Richardson and Jared Jones here to dispute all things UFC 143, because frankly, we can’t make heads or tails outta this card.

Let’s kick things off how we normally do, with a completely offhand topic. Who wins the Super Bowl?

RX: Me, if the commercials are good and Bane blows up the stadium.  Let me guess, you’re a-

JJ: GO GIANTS!

RX: I hate you so hard, man.

JJ: First off, I’m not your buddy.

RX: But I never-

JJ: Eli Manning is to the Patriots what Dylan Klebold was to Columbine High School; he cannot be defeated, unless by that of his own doing. Giants 35-27.

RX: Wow…this has gotten off to a rough start. Can we just move on?

(Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit exchange a respectful handshake at Gladiator Man‘s funeral.)

Weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit event are scheduled to get rollin’ today at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. You can watch the action right here on CagePotato.com, in the video player after the jump. Will Nick Diaz start talking shit during the staredown? What can Roy Nelson possibly do to top his last weigh-in appearance? And will the Fabricio Werdum smirk of insanity make its UFC debut? Keep your browser parked right here to find out, and be sure to come back tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the UFC 143 main card.

(Video courtesy of FightArtsFandom)

If you need a reminder how Saturday night’s main event between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz came to be, “FightArtsFandom” AKA, Will Banh has crafted this succinct little animated video to refresh your memory.

After the jump, he gives us a glimpse of who, besides the Nevada penal system, might stand a chance against Alistair Overeem.

By Mike Russell

If you didn’t know any better, you would assume by looking at the odds for Saturday night’s UFC 143 main event interim welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit that betting on Diaz would earn you some easy money.

Fortunately this isn’t pro-wrestling and bout outcomes aren’t pre-determined, because Condit hasn’t followed the scripts written for him by the bookies for most of his fights and he doesn’t plan on starting at this point of his career.

“I’m probably the underdog as far as the betting lines go, but that’s where I’ve been my whole career,” he explains with a shrug. “I’m excited for this fight. I know I have all of the tools to come out on top. I’m motivated and am in shape. I’ve been training since July for this fight. I had some cancellations and some change-ups, but I stayed focus on making sure I’m ready.”

(Be careful, Josh! If you eat all of those sour grapes too fast, you might choke!) 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard Josh Koscheck make an offhand remark that has in turn reminded us of his decreasing necessity amongst the welterweight division. Most of us assumed his recent quiescence was possibly linked to an inability to digest the five course serving of humble pie that Georges St. Pierre stuffed down his throat (and eye socket) back at UFC 124, and it appears we were correct. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Koscheck discussed everything from his upcoming UFC 143 fight with Mike Pierce to his dislike for the media and his thoughts on GSP’s recent injuries. And wouldn’t you know it, Koscheck doesn’t want the man who beat him twice to ever come back. Here’s what he had to say:

I’m interested in the outcome of the Diaz vs. Condit fight on Saturday night. Should be a good fight. Hopefully Georges is out for more than 10 months and they can make that Interim titleholder fight twice. Hopefully he never comes back. ACL surgeries can take a lot out of you. They say you truly don’t recover after those. I’ve had friends who have had those and they say they’re not the same so hopefully it equals out the playing field and we can get another crack at Georges. 

Let’s get this straight, you don’t want St. Pierre to return, so you can fight for a future shot against him? To quote Ignignokt, “your logic is flawless.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/THQ)

OK, we lied. THQ just let a couple of its interns fight each other in UFC: Undisputed 3 and the one using Nick Diaz won against Carlos Condit. There’s nothing scientific about their method that they claim is a result of a computer simulated formula, but in their defense they have been pretty damn accurate with their last few picks.

(Video courtesy of YOuTube/IronForgesIron)

If you missed the UFC 143 countdown show last night, don’t worry, we got you.

The more I hear Nick Diaz speak honestly and candidly, the more I’m a fan. This is a very tough fight to pick, but it will probably more than make up for last weekend’s snoozefest of a main event. I almost forgot that the rest of the card is as good as it is. Roy Nelson versus Fabricio Werdum and Josh Koscheck versus Mike Pierce both have “Fight of the Night” potential as well.

(Georges is so pumped to fight Diaz, he wears his fight gear while he hobbles around outside all of the local Stockton head shops.)

With all of the criticism Georges St-Pierre has gotten the past few years for his conservative style of fighting, sometimes people overlook just how much the dominant UFC welterweight kingpin purveys the blueprint of how a champion should act both inside and outside of the Octagon.

In a recent interview he did for UFC.com, St-Pierre said that because he hasn’t been active lately due to a pair of knee injuries, he doesn’t consider himself to be the UFC welterweight title holder anymore and that he will need to beat the winner of the interim title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit Saturday night to once again become the champ.

Today is truly a sad day for the MMA world, one that no amount of Office Space parodies or Korean television can resolve. For today, a great man has died, and therefore has taken a piece of us all with him. We’re talking, of course, about none other than the unacknowledged gladiator who’s trials and tribulations were once synonymous with the beginning of every UFC event. We’re talking about the nameless, faceless warrior who could grind sand into…well, sand, in the palm of his hand whilst an epic chorus sang in the background. Though we never knew what lied beyond the blinding white he so courageously stepped into night after night, it seems now that the mysterious abyss was in fact the UFC vault. The Underground was the first to break the story:

Tonight, UFC President Dana White revealed exclusively to the Underground that the opening sequence for its PPV broadcast has been redone and the new introduction will be revealed this Saturday for UFC 143. The event will feature Nick Diaz fighting Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight championship in the main event.

The opening sequence, which has shown a Roman gladiator preparing for battle has often been critiqued by fans and although the sequence hasn’t been used by the UFC on its FOX and Fuel TV broadcasts, it had been present as most recent as this past UFC 142.

To quote the UFC President directly: “He’s been cut.”

We know what you’re thinking, what does this mean for Stemm?

(In Stockton THIS IS style.)

The UFC’s marketing department Some random fan not at all affiliated with Zuffa released another one of his clever movie mash-ups today – this time featuring a clip of Nick Diaz from the latest UFC Primetime episode and and one from Office Space. We figured it was worthy of posting to make the reality of your Monday seem a little bit less harsh. We laughed.

Part II after the jump (Video: YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)

We’ll be treated to a free night of exciting fights on FOX in just a few hours, but there’s still plenty of time to discuss next weekend’s battle for the interim Welterweight title. The second episode of ‘UFC Primetime: Diaz vs Condit‘ hit the air last night. As if the video wasn’t enough, we’ve got your breakdown of the show just after the jump.

(Video courtesy of Zombie Prophet)

Before the dust had even settled from the organization’s debut on FX, the push began for UFC 143‘s headliner. The battle for the interim Welterweight belt is getting the full “Primetime” treatment with an in depth, behind-the-scenes look at Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. If you were too busy to catch the first installment of the series, bully for you. We’ve got the video above and some notes after the jump for the soft-headed.

UFC 143 Diaz vs. Condit: Video Interview Carlos Condit – Watch More MMA Videos

We’re about two weeks away from UFC 143‘s interim welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, a fight that will mark Condit’s first Octagon appearance since he wrecked Dong Hyun Kim in July. In the ensuing months, Condit has had to remain focused while big opportunities appeared and disappeared with maddening regularity. Finally, his wait is over, and the Natural Born Killer will be able to test his skills against a man who many MMA pundits consider to be the #2 welterweight behind Georges St. Pierre. Our buddy Sal Mora caught up to Condit recently to get his thoughts about Nick Diaz and the challenges of balancing fighting with the rest of his life. Thanks so much to Carlos for the time; visit CampCondit.com for more. Some highlights from our interview…

On Diaz’s attitude and antics: “I’ve never met the guy, so honestly I don’t have much of an opinion. I think that we’re fortunate to be doing what we’re doing for a living. We get paid to train, we get paid to fight, and we get paid to do what we like to do. I think he’s got kind of a bad attitude when it comes to being grateful for the position he’s in. But other than that, like I said, I don’t really know the guy.”

On fighters who create a persona to attract more attention: ”When I was younger, I felt like I wasn’t getting the notoriety or the exposure that some of these other guys were getting. But ultimately, when it came down to it, I just gotta be myself, and that’s carried me as far and got me as much exposure and notoriety as somebody acting a fool.”

(“Sorry, guys. We wanted to have Cyborg fight King Mo for the main event, but the fight fell through.”)

Bad news for Quebec MMA fans who were patiently waiting for the UFC to return in March.

According to a report by the Canadian Press, the UFC had decided to postpone the event in Montreal, presumably until welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is ready to fight in November.

Most of the bouts slated for the event will be moved to the April 21 card which will take place in Atlanta at the Philips Arena.

(Props: Olieng)

By Jack Slack

The upcoming welterweight tilt between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit at UFC 143 (February 4th, Las Vegas) is an exciting prospect for casual viewers and passionate fans alike. The match-up will answer no questions about Diaz or Condit’s ability to deal with the great wrestlers of the division — Diaz in fact hasn’t fought a real takedown artist in half a decade — but it promises to be a damn good tear-up. With Georges St. Pierre out of the fight game for a while and an interim title on the line it also provides just what UFC brass has likely been seeking: We will finally see an exciting striker at the top of the welterweight division.

The match is expected to stay on the feet and it is hoped the two men will “bang it out” until one is left standing. Assuming that neither fighter will come out with the plan of exposing the other’s takedown defense, this article examines the assets and deficits in each man’s bag of tricks from the standing position.

Nick Diaz’s Boxing

Much has been made of Nick Diaz’s pugilistic talent, and rightly so. His excellence while boxing against pure strikers over recent years almost excuses the lack of skilled wrestlers on his record in that time. Nick has taken on the likes of Paul Daley, Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos, KJ Noons, BJ Penn, and Marius Zaromskis in striking contests and got the better of all of them through his ferocity, grit and unique style.

Diaz is a prolific volume puncher, having been known to crash the Compustrike computer by throwing over a hundred punches a round. His form is not attractive in that it rarely provides one-punch knockouts, but his straights are uncompromisingly straight, his hooks loop in behind his opponents guard and when he sets his feet he rips terrific punches to his opponents’ torso; unquestionably he is the poster boy for body-punching in the sport.

Nick often attacks almost side-on in an old fashioned boxing stance with his lead foot turned in, allowing him to turn his lead shoulder further towards his opponent and gain a couple more inches on his already considerable reach (a stylistic feature he shares with his younger brother Nate). Often taking a few substantial punches in the opening exchanges, the Diaz brothers seem near impossible to knock unconscious, yet every opponent they face seems to labor under the illusion that they will be the first to do so.

(The “Shaka” is apparently the new “Fingers crossed behind the back.”)

Not that we’re totally surprised by it, considering his history of playing the blame game, but it looks like BJ Penn has switched from feeling sorry for himself after announcing his retirement following his UFC 137 decision loss to Nick Diaz to making excuses why he lost the fight.

Penn randomly today tweeted the following at Diaz, who is preparing for his Super Bowl weekend UFC welterweight interim title fight with Carlos Condit in a few weeks.

“@nickdiaz209 Look how much bigger you are in this pic..” he wrote, referring to the photo above. “I thought you were gonna scrap from the beginning homie? What was that coward fence holding strategy to tire out the smaller man? Street fighter my ass! I made you fight like glass jaw @jonfitchdotnet poser! I’ll be ready for that weak bs next time we fight!”

(DON’T MOVE ROB! There is the biggest hornet on your nose right now!) 

A battle between undefeated heavyweights Stipe Miocic and Philip De Fries has recently been booked for the UFC’s upcoming debut on FUELTV, which transpires February 15th at the CenturyLink and Cornmeal Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

After starting off his professional career with five straight (T)KO victories, all coming within the first two rounds, Croatian-born Stipe Miocic scored a second round leglock submission over Bobby Brents to earn himself a call from the UFC. In his debut, Miocic would handle tough veteran Joey Beltran with a deft combination of leg kicks and takedowns en route to a unanimous decision victory. Though his choice to sport the same checkerboard trunks as the legendary Mirko Cro Cop would earn him the ire of many keyboard warriors across the nation, a win over De Fries, specifically a head kick KO, would certainly give him some breathing room. De Fries, on the other hand, had finished all of his opponents (excluding a No Contest against Dave Wilson) via submission before making his UFC debut, where he scored his own unanimous decision win over Rob Broughton at UFC 138.

No, that’s not a photo of Stephen Hawking in bed, it’s actually Georges St-Pierre already rehabbing his reconstructed knee just five days removed from ACL surgery.

(Mike who? Well, if there’s an ass that needs motorboating, I’ll be there.) 

When Carlos Condit was called up to face Nick Diaz for an interim title shot at UFC 143 in the wake of Georges St. Pierre’s knee injury, one person who felt left out of the mix was none other than former title challenger Josh Koscheck, who was originally scheduled to face Condit at the same event. Kos later tweeted that he would indeed be fighting at UFC 143, possibly as a middleweight. But now it seems that the TUF 12 coach will be fighting back at welterweight against up-and-comer Mike Pierce, who recently announced the match-up via his Twitter.

Pierce is coming off an entertaining three round shellacking of Paul Bradley at UFC on FOX 1, and is perhaps best known for actually managing to mount some offense against Koscheck’s AKA teammate Jon Fitch in their battle back at UFC 107, a feat that has been deemed nearly impossible at this point in Fitch’s career. Pierce is 5-2 in his octagon run thus far, including the aforementioned loss to Fitch and a split decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 133, as well as wins over Brock Larson, Amilcar Alves, and Kenny Robertson.

(“Master Seagal says that nobody can defend this kick if you do it with your tongue out.”)

In a series of tweets he posted today in response to the news today that his upcoming UFC 143 opponent Carlos Condit would be stepping in for an injured Georges St-Pierre against Nick Diaz on the card, Josh Koscheck proved he hasn’t lost his place as one of the UFC’s greatest heels.

The always outspoken American Kickboxing Academy fighter directed his first message on the subject at Condit, inferring that “The Natural Born Killer” dodged a bullet by not having to face him and, “get [his] ass beat.”

(I am not empressed wid my physical therapist’s performance.) 

Well son of a bitch. The UFC injury curse has officially become a plague of biblical proportions. Word just broke that UFC welterweight champion George St. Pierre has suffered another knee injury, described as a “blown ACL,” in training and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest against Nick Diaz at UFC 143. Fear not, UFC 143′s main event has already been replaced by a welterweight interim championship bout between Diaz and former number one contender Carlos Condit. A poor turn of luck, no doubt, but it could be worse for those of you who’ve already purchased tickets.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/StudioMMA)

Studio MMA’s Bobby Cavian was on hand at Friday’s UFC 138 Q&A with former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans and he was good enough to record the entire session for us.

In the nearly 60-minute question and answer period Rashad touched on a number of topics from how he broke his hand and where he is in his rehab to who he think s will win against Machida and his former teammate and current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. “Suga” also gives an update on his tumultuous relationships with his former nemesis Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and his former coach Greg Jackon.

Some spoilers are after the jump.

(Yeah…whatever happened to that guy, anyway?)

Carlos Condit is going to have to re-earn his title shot the hard way. After his slated fight against George St. Pierre went up in smoke as quickly as it was handed to him, Condit is now likely to return at UFC 143: St. Pierre vs. Diaz (February 4th, Las Vegas) against perennial welterweight contender Josh Koscheck. UFC president Dana White discussed the matchup at the Leben vs. Munoz post-event press conference:

“Right now, Carlos wants to fight. He wants to fight on the same card as GSP and Diaz, so we’ll see what happens. Koscheck has been offered (the fight).”

If you thought something smelled fishy when Carlos Condit simply stepped aside from his title shot with Georges St. Pierre for Nick Diaz, then perhaps it’s time you used that nose to fight crime. On a very special Halloween episode of Inside MMA, it was revealed by “The Natural Born Killer’s” agent and President of First Round Management, Malki Kawa, that Condit was not given an option to back out of his welterweight championship bout, saying:

Contrary to what has been stated, Carlos did not step aside and allow this to happen, and would not just hand over an opportunity for him to achieve his greatest career goal, one that he has earned through his strong performances in the octagon. No option was given to him.