Condit Forced to Face Shortcomings Against Ellenberger

Leading up to last night's UFC Fight Night card in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, little attention was paid to former WECWelterweight Champion Carlos Condit's main card tilt against underrated veteran Jake Ellenberger. Most of Condit's fans, some of whom feel that he should have got the nod in an April Split Decision verdict against Martin Kampmann, were not overly vocal about last night's match up.

Whether this was a result of a sobering of expectations regarding a man who was once considered to be in the top five of the welterweight division, or merely the result of uninspiring match making, Condit was largely expected to make a statement with an emphatic TKO or submission victory. Instead, Condit was thoroughly dominated throughout most of round 1, nearly losing consciousness on two separate occasions, before rallying in the second and third rounds to egde by on points.

While Condit should be commended on his ability to whether such a brutal storm and come back in the manner that he did, Kenny Florian's comments regarding his tendancy to leave himself open really sum up his performance. Condit may have gotten away with daring, Miguel Torres-esque manuevers during his WEC reign against sub-par competition such as Miura, Alessio, and Kyle Jensen, but he clearly does not possess the sort of speed and explosiveness needed to properly capitalize on some of the opportunities his unorthodox striking and grappling style create. Furthermore, as we saw on August 9 in the main event of WEC 42, even Torres can have lapses in judgement that can--and did--lead to a stunning KO loss.

The good news to come out of all of this is that, by and large, Condit seems to be entirely conscious of of the awful position he found himself in against Ellenberger. Speaking during his post-fight interview on UFC.com, Condit said:

He did have me in trouble in the first round, but I tried to weather the storm and get through it and I came out on top. I’ve been in some pretty bad positions before, but that was probably pretty close to the worst.

Instead of following up this sentiment with a discussion about how he can improve for his next fight, which will presumably come against an even tougher opponent than Ellenberger, Condit seems to take pride in the fact that he came back to win in the way he did, citing his toughness as possibly his greatest strenght.

I can take punishment and I don’t quit. It’s not in me to quit.

Condit also made light of his technical mistakes by attributing much of the adversity he faced in the cage to the equal toughness of his opponent, irresepective of my own opinion that another fighter--say a Dustin Hazelett or a Josh Koscheck--probably would have gotten the finish if they were to wind up in a similar position.

I had him mounted once or twice and was trying to finish him with strikes, but he’s a tough dude.

As Florian suggested, much of the reason for Condit's not being able to secure the finish was because of his tendancy to over commit himself to a single mode of attack, providing Ellenberger, a crafty--and yes, tough--veteran the opportunity to escape and inflict partially deflected damage of his own. Had Ellenberger maintained the same hellish pace he brought in the first round--a difficult proposition for any fighter--I firmly believe Condit would have been finished emphatically, tough or otherwise.

Maybe I am being too hard on Condit, but I think he has set the bar fairly high for himself in past performances. Obviously it would be naive to assume that a fighter is going to definitively outline all of the mistakes he made in a fight minutes afterwards, sweating in a locker room backstage, but if Condit does not devote significant time to strengthening both this striking defense, as well as his offensive poise, he will never get a deserved shot at UFC gold.