By Sean Farrell

With the way things have been going for Carlos Condit regarding his place among the UFC’s elite welterweights, you would think he would be highly annoyed.

“The Natural Born Killer” was supposed to replace Nick Diaz against welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre back in September, when Diaz didn’t appear for his press appearances, but eventually saw the fight cancelled when St. Pierre injured his knee shortly before the bout.
Their fight was rescheduled, but Condit was eventually bumped from the spot in favor of Diaz, because Diaz plays a good heel to the champ. Condit ended up drawing Josh Koscheck on the same fight card in which he was supposed to face GSP for the title.

Well, GSP got injured again and Condit will now face Nick Diaz himself for the interim welterweight belt, with the winner to face GSP upon his return. Speaking with USA Today recently, Condit explained that he isn’t bitter with the way things have worked out, but excited to face a fighter like Diaz.

“There was no question about accepting the fight,” Condit says. “It was automatic. … I wanted the fight with Diaz for a long time. It’s a legendary fight in the making because of our styles. The fact that it is for an interim belt is just icing on the cake.”

Condit also asserted that Diaz’s takedown-light style matches up very well against his own and that he’s looking forward to facing him for that reason.

“It’s definitely a better stylistic matchup for me than George or Koscheck,” Condit says. “Diaz is a guy that likes to stand and trade punches. That’s something that I love to do, but really haven’t had a chance to do in my recent fights because guys were, for the most part, trying to take me down.”

Condit and Diaz will face off at UFC 143 this coming February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

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