Albuquerque Journal

Technicall­y sound Condit earns Fight Night victory

Albuquerqu­e native’s win is timely at end of UFC deal

- BY RICK WRIGHT

“Technical” might seem to be a curious word to use in associatio­n with the brutal, violent sport of mixed martial arts.

Yet, Albuquerqu­e’s Carlos Condit, in confidentl­y predicting victory over Matt Brown in his fight Saturday, had described himself as the technicall­y superior fighter.

So he was.

Condit, far more active while exploiting a far deeper bag of tricks, defeated Brown by unanimous decision on a UFC Fight Night card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

All three official scorecards read 30-27 for Condit (32-13). Brown, a highly respected 40-year-old battler from Cincinnati, is 22-18.

Twice before, Condit and Brown had been scheduled to face each other. Both times the match was scrubbed by injuries to Brown.

“I feel good,” Condit said. “I was stoked to get in there and finally face Matt. Standing across the cage from him was awesome.

“I had the hair standing up in the back of my neck, I was so stoked to get in there and get my hand raised. I’m very happy.”

Saturday’s fight was Condit’s last on his current UFC contract, and the 36-year-old had acknowledg­ed last week that he might be fighting for his UFC life on Saturday. From January 2016 though December 2018, he’d lost five fights in a row.

But after Saturday’s performanc­e it’s hard to imagine anyone, including UFC President Dana White, thinking Condit has no future in the Octagon. He’s now on a two-fight win streak, having defeated Court McGee at the same venue — UFC’s “Fight Island” — in October.

The fight didn’t begin particular­ly well for Condit. Brown took him down a minute into the first round and kept him on the ground for the next 3½ minutes. Yet, Condit was more active from his back than Brown was from the top, landing elbows and forcing Brown to fend off triangle choke attempts.

Round two was almost all Condit, who scored two takedowns — one that particular­ly impressed the ABC-TV commentato­rs with its creativity — and threatened to secure a rear naked choke.

The fighters traded takedowns in the third and final round, but Brown was relatively inactive from the top while Condit, whether from the top or the bottom, found ways to stay active and pose a threat.

In Saturday’s main event, former UFC featherwei­ght champion Max Holloway (22-6) defeated Calvin Kattar (22-5) by overwhelmi­ng, unanimous five-round decision.

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