Carlos Condit did as I predicted and picked his spots, and that led to his victory over Diaz in the main event of UFC 143.
Condit earned the UFC interim (fake) Welterweight title, which means he carries a piece of gold-plated plastic posing as GSP's title until the true champion returns from injury with the real thing.
There has been some disagreement as to the winner, and I can certainly see why, but if we were in PRIDE (judging the fight as a whole), it would be clearly Condit. In terms of rounds, I had Condit clearly winning Rounds 3 and 4 and the remaining three were toss-ups.
I could see Diaz winning the other three rounds, but given how much Condit dominated his rounds, it would be quite a statement to give Diaz the fight. Condit pretty much won definitively enough that he should be allowed to declare a clear-cut win and move on without a rematch.
During the fight, I had to give Condit all kinds of credit for not mixing up with Diaz when he started to trash talk. Condit stuck to his fight and didn't let Diaz bait him.
Now, we can prepare for fall when the WEC's final 170-lb. champion will face his UFC counterpart in a unification bout of not only those belts, but of the main and interim titles.
Condit has earned my respect as a cerebral fighter and knew how to pick his spots. GSP will be coming off of a long layoff of injuries. Because of all this, I am leaning GSP as only a slight favorite.
GSP will have his toughest challenge in years on that night, and even if he survives, he will have a slew of challengers lined up.
This leads to the final question: Should Condit defend his "title" once beforehand. Personally, I would if for no other reason than he shouldn't be rusty as well.
Condit could have a match with Johny Hendricks, the Jake Ellenberger-Diego Sanchez winner, Josh Koscheck, or even a rematch with Diaz if he wanted. I would watch any of those, and I hope we see one of them this summer.
The Rest of the Card
Roy Nelson is one tough bastard. Somehow this man took multiple knees that would have knocked out a top heavyweight, and he kept going and never seemed to let up.
Fabricio Werdum did well to dominate much of the fight and earn the win, but with how much his stand-up improved, I'm sure he's upset he didn't finish the job.
Next for Werdum should be a major contender like a Frank Mir to set up a title opportunity. Nelson, meanwhile, needs to keep working on getting into shape. If he could get himself down to 205, may God have mercy on those in that division.
Josh Koscheck managed to survive his match with Mike Pierce in a very even contest. Pierce should be able to move up the card thanks to this one, and Koscheck should be allowed the match with Condit he was supposed to have on this card at some point in the near future.
Renan Barao looked like he deserves a bantamweight title shot after his big win on Saturday. Also, are the mulit-colored patches of skin on Scott Jorgensen getting lighter?
Well, that's it for this card. Overall, I went 5-1, moving me to 19-11 on the year. Tune in next Wednesday for UFC on Fuel 1, though I should have an opinion long before then.
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