February 7th, 2008
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Carlos Condit doesn’t resemble a fighter, much less a champion of a major MMA organization. He looks like a college student, normal and unassuming — certainly nothing at all like his nickname, “Natural Born Killer.”
But once he enters the cage, the WEC welterweight champion becomes something else entirely. Condit turns into a scowling, lethal mixed martial artist.
“I’m not your typical fighter,” Condit revealed in a recent interview at WEC.com. “I’m not a super muscular guy, I don’t have tattoos or a cool mohawk. People don’t give me my due as a tenacious or dangerous fighter. These people doubt me and its fuel for the fire.”
This Albuquerque, New Mexico, native takes the road less traveled. Instead of training with local MMA guru, Greg Jackson, and his stable of high profile fighter’s like Keith Jardine, Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, etc., Condit chooses to workout down the street at FIT NHB.
Here’s another snip from Condit:
“I have a lot of guys out of my camp that you haven’t heard of, but you will soon. We don’t have a lot of big name guys, but we have the guys that you need to be successful. The formula that we’re using, and the tools we have at my school — that’s what has brought me the success that I’ve had.”
Condit’s rematch with Carlo Prater (one of his four defeats) on February 13 should prove to be an exciting bout. With all his recent success, Condit isn’t taking Prater lightly.
Another snip:
“He’s a good jiu jitsu fighter and has good Muay Thai. He’s pretty good in the clinch, a very talented fighter and a legitimate contender.”
Condit later went on to explain in the interview, “I’m leaps and bounds from where I used to be back then. It doesn’t haunt me at all. It’s not even in the back of my mind, really. It’s a motivating factor for sure, but that was about three and a half years ago. I hate to make excuses, but back then I did it more as a hobby. These days this is my livelihood and what I do for a living. I know the mistakes that I made and I’ve remedied those problems.”
The Santa Ana Star Center should be packed with many of the champ’s hometown fans on fight night. One of these attendees will be New Mexico governor and former Presidential candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson — Condit’s father is a high ranking staffer in Richardson’s cabinet.
Condit recently revealed his mantra for life. And he hopes that it will hold true for his rematch with Prater.
Final snip:
“We make our own destiny in this world. Your destiny is basically in your hands right now.”
Condit — unlike most of us — has second chance to chart his own destiny in the rematch with Prater next week on Versus. Don’t miss it.
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Carlos Condit and MMA.
Get another dose of Kimbo Slice tonight when he appears on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 12:05 a.m. ET on ABC. He’ll be a special guest on the late night show, discussing his upcoming fight with Tank Abbott at “Street Certified” on February 16 and more.
Abbott actually did the same show a couple weeks ago and offered this statement up as his thoughts on the fight:
“I don’t care about how much he runs or how much he lifts. He’s got to worry about what I’m doing. And he can think about that when hes leaving on a stretcher.”
Typical Tank Abbott talk there.
Kimbo, on the other hand, hasn’t been shy about talking shit himself, either. Basically, it has been a back-and-forth war of words for a couple weeks now and tonight Kimbo gets a live national audience to express his thoughts.
I’m sure he saw the show when Tank was on and it should be interesting to see what he has to say about his good buddy when he gets his turn to talk tonight.
Set the DVRs if you have to, but definitely don’t miss it.
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Tank Abbott and Kimbo Slice and EliteXC and MMA.
Props: WCFighting.com
Quoteworthy:
“In attendance will be our very special guest and President of the UFC Dana White!… Fans with tickets for the night’s action will have access to a special autograph session including the following UFC and Pride Fighting Veterans: Marcus ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ Davis; Kenny ‘KenFlo’ Florian; Jorge ‘El Conquistador’ Rivera; Alex ‘The Assassin’ Karalexis; Sean ‘The Gladiator’ Gannon; Tamdan ‘The Barn Cat’ McCrory and Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua.”
Rather ridiculous line up of guests for the local show — might want to head over there if you’re anywhere near the Boston area. The autograph session runs from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. ET tomorrow in the Shriners Auditorium. Anyone on the scene tomorrow who wants to help us out with a report of the action let us know here.
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Wilson Gouveia (10-4) will take on Octagon newcomer Goran Reljic (7-0) in a light heavyweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Gouveia flies relatively low in the stacked 205-pound division despite riding a four-fight win streak. He opened a few eyes with his knockout of Jason Lambert at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” on January 19 — not too shabby for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt who trains with American Top Team.
His only loss inside the Octagon is to Keith Jardine via unanimous decision back in 2006.
Reljic is a 23-year-old undefeated Croatian fighter who just recently signed a multiple-fight contract to compete inside the Octagon. He trains with the Roger Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in London, England, where he is a purple belt. In addition, he has a solid working relationship with UFC heavyweight fighter, Mirko Cro Cop.
It should be interesting to see how the young prospect performs against a tough veteran on the big stage in Sin City.
UFC 84 most likely features the championship fight between lightweight belt holder, BJ Penn, and former division king, Sean Sherk. To check out the rest of the rumored fight card click here — it’s solid.
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC 84 and Gorin Reljic and Wilson Gouveia and UFC Light Heavyweight Division and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and UFC Pay Per View (PPV) Events and MMA.
… unlike his counterpart, UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra, in this tension-filled segment to hype their upcoming rematch:
Props: TSN “Off the Record”
(Thanks to BloodyElbow.com for the assist.)
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Georges St. Pierre and UFC 83 and UFC Canada and UFC Welterweight Division and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Matt Serra and MMA.
“I don’t see how I could not get one. I am seven and zero in the UFC right now and 14 straight wins against tough opponents. Who else has done that and not been given a title shot? I think I’ve earned it.”
– Top welterweight contender Jon Fitch tells ADCC News that he deserves the next chance at the 170-pound crown if he can get past Chris Wilson at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Of course, Karo Parisyan is confident that he’s the next in line if he can topple Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 13 on April 2 from the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo. Without question there’s a ton on the line for Fitch and Parisyan in their next bouts. It should be real interesting to see how this all unfolds … especially if Wilson and Alves pull off the upsets.
Written by admin on February 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC 82 and Chris Wilson and UFC Welterweight Division and Jon Fitch and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and UFC Quick Quotes and MMA.