Carlos Condit says it’s up to him to make UFC Vancouver fight with Maia exciting

Carlos (The Natural Born Killer) Condit says it will up be to him to raise the excitement level in his main event bout with Demian Maia on Aug. 27 in Vancouver.

Condit, a prickly striker ranked fifth among UFC welterweight contenders, is known for putting on a show. Witness his last outing when he connected on 176 significant strikes in a split-decision five-round loss to champion (Ruthless) Robbie Lawler at UFC 195 in January.

Condit believes Maia, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu master ranked third among 170-pound contenders, is less appealing to watch despite his current five-fight win streak.

“I think Maia’s a great fighter,” Condit said Thursday on a visit to Vancouver to promote the televised card at Rogers Arena. “His striking has definitely improved. He fights safe, though.

“For all intents and purposes, he should be the No. 1 contender with a title shot. But he’s a boring fighter. He doesn’t take risks. And therefore doesn’t create a lot of buzz, a lot of energy around him or his fights. That being said, my goal is to make this guy fight. That’s what I need to do. I need to make this exciting, like I tend to do. If I do that, I can win — I know I can win.”

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Maia (23-6-0) has disposed of Alexander Yakovlev, Ryan LaFlare, Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson and Matt (The Immortal) Brown on his recent run. Prior to that he had back-to-back losses to Canadian Rory MacDonald and Jake Shields.

A former middleweight who lost a five-round decision to then-champion Anderson Silva at UFC 112 in 2010, Maia has won 17 of 23 UFC bouts collecting six fight bonuses en route. The 38-year-old Brazilian has won eight of 10 welterweight contests.

Condit (30-8-0) is equally experienced. A former World Extreme Cagefighting champion, Condit won all five of his WEC fights before moving to the UFC where he beat Nick Diaz for the interim 170-pound title at UFC 143 in 2012, only to lose a unification bout to Montreal’s Georges St. Pierre later that year at UFC 154. 

The 32-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., has won seven of 12 UFC fights and has earned 10 fight bonuses during his UFC-WEC days.

Three of his UFC losses were to current or future champions (Lawler, St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks). A fourth came when he blew out his knee against Tyron Woodley. Condit lost his UFC debut by split decision to Martin (The Hitman)  Kampmann.

Condit has fought in Vancouver before, mounting a memorable third-round rally to beat MacDonald at UFC 115 in June 2010.

The Condit-Maia fight was originally slated for the main card of UFC 202 on Aug. 20 in Vancouver but was shifted earlier this week to Vancouver.

Condit says he had no problems with the move.

“If anything the extra rounds (as a main event fight, it will be five rounds instead of three) are something to be considered with regards to training. But you know what, same game plan, same opponent, same problems to solve. So yeah, I don’t see it as too much of a difference.”

Many thought Condit had won the Lawler fight and there was talk afterwards that Condit might retire.

Condit says he is proud of his performance that night.

“The decision didn’t go my way. It was a very, very close fight. It is what it is and that’s the nature of the sport. You don’t finish a fight, the judges make their decision and you have to live with that … Win or lose, it was a fun fight and a great experience.”

As for retiring, Condit says he’s not quite ready.

“For now, I’ve still got some fight in me. I still have some fights left in me. And I think I’m going to continue with my chosen profession for the time being. But yeah, I’m in the latter years of my career.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press