Carlos Condit: 5 Defining Moments

Carlos Condit stands out in a world defined by hyperbole.

A rare case in which substance often exceeded hype, Condit has pieced together a distinguished career that now covers 40 fights and more than 15 years as a professional mixed martial artist. The Jackson-Wink MMA standout will make his return from a yearlong layoff when he locks horns with “The Ultimate Fighter 16” semifinalist Neil Magny in a featured UFC 219 attraction on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Condit, 33, enters the match on a two-fight losing streak. He last appeared as part of the UFC on Fox 21 main event in August 2016, when he tapped to a first-round rear-naked choke from 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Demian Maia. It marked the first time Condit had been submitted in more than a decade.

As Condit prepares to take on Magny, here are five of the moments that have come to define the former World Extreme Cagefighting champion:

1. Never Out of a Fight

Perhaps down two rounds on the scorecards, Condit brutalized and stopped Rory MacDonald with a poisonous ground-and-pound blend of elbows, hammerfists and punches in their UFC 115 welterweight showcase on June 12, 2010 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The end came with just seven seconds left in the fight. MacDonald pressured Condit for much of the first two rounds, as he worked effectively from the outside and from the clinch. A British Columbia native, he scored with three takedowns in the opening period but failed to keep Condit grounded and never threatened to finish him. Condit took a tongue-lashing from famed trainer Greg Jackson prior to the third round and stormed off his stool with a sense of desperation, plans for a remarkable comeback no doubt dancing through his head. He tagged the then 20-year-old MacDonald with a right hand, swarmed him to the ground and unleashed a devastating series of blows that carved up the former King of the Cage champion and netted the stoppage 4:53 into Round 3.

2. Breaking Bad

Condit circled out of harm’s way, stayed true to his game plan and willed his way to victory, as he captured the interim welterweight crown in a unanimous decision over Nick Diaz in the UFC 143 headliner on Feb. 4, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges saw it for Condit by 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 counts. Diaz was largely unsuccessful in his approach, as he spent much of the 25-minute bout stalking and attempting to corner the former WEC champion. However, Condit leaned on his conditioning, maintained a strict adherence to strategy and never allowed the vaunted volume punching of his opponent to come into play. “The Natural Born Killer” seemed to find another gear in the third round, as he began putting leather on Diaz’s face with more regularity, mixing in thudding kicks to the leg, body and head, as well. Unlike previous Diaz opponents, Condit never broke. With the fight slipping out of reach, Diaz saw his last chance to finish come and go in the fifth round, where he wheeled behind Condit, dragged him to the ground and locked him in a body triangle. From there, he searched for the rear-naked choke that would have rendered the judges’ scorecards moot, only to be denied the submission.

3. Just Short of Greatness

Longtime welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in his first appearance in nearly two years overwhelmed Condit with takedowns, ground-and-pound and beautiful standing combinations, as he unified the welterweight crown with a unanimous decision in the UFC 154 main event on Nov. 17, 2012 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. St. Pierre swept the scorecards by 49-46, 50-45 and 50-45 counts, showing no ill effects from the knee injury that threatened his brilliant career. St. Pierre was exceptional but not flawless. He weathered an encounter with a perfectly timed head kick from Condit in the third round. The French Canadian went down, and though Condit swarmed for the finish, St. Pierre remained calm, regained his composure and ultimately cleared his head. Condit thought it was over. Outside of the head kick, St. Pierre was his old dominant self. He struck for takedowns in all five rounds and sliced open his challenger with a short elbow from the top inside the first five minutes. Condit spilled blood everywhere -- on himself, on the canvas and on St. Pierre. He stayed active from his back in the face of heavy fire, but his advances were turned away by the relentless champion.

4. Rhinoplasty

Stepping into the Octagon for the first time in 441 days, Condit shredded Thiago Alves with a second-round elbow strike that led to a technical knockout in the UFC Fight Night 67 headliner on May 30, 2015 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The cageside physician took one look at the Brazilian’s disfigured nose in between rounds two and three before deeming him unfit to continue. With that, Condit re-established himself as an integral part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division. “The Natural Born Killer” had no issues with the knee that required reconstructive surgery and sidelined him for more than a year. Condit shook off ring rust in the first round and looked like his old self in the second. The elbow that rearranged Alves’ face put the Brazilian on the canvas, pain undoubtedly rushing through his body, and prompted a savage flurry of punches, elbows and various other strikes from Condit. Alves survived to the bell but was permitted to go no further.

5. Beautiful Brutality

In an unforgettable encounter during which the two combatants gave until they could give no more, Robbie Lawler retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title with a split decision over Condit in the UFC 195 main event on Jan. 2, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it 48-47: Derek Cleary and Chris Lee for Lawler, Tony Weeks for Condit. The five-round battle was later crowned as Sherdog’s “Fight of the Year” for 2016. According to FightMetric figures, “The Natural Born Killer” outdistanced Lawler in total strikes, 198-78, and significant strikes, 196-78. Condit was the far busier fighter, throwing 327 more strikes than his counterpart. Yet it was not enough to sway the judges completely. Lawler knocked down the challenger with a stiff right hand in the second round, smashed him with a forearm shiver in the third and made his final pitch for a decision in the fifth, where he unleashed a violent burst of elbows, punches, knees and kicks. Condit stayed upright, withstood the onslaught and reached the final bell. Near exhaustion by the time they were done, the two welterweights propped themselves up against the cage, side by side, when the horn sounded.