robj55;1076649 wrote:Nick landed more to the body and head, Carlos landed way more to the legs. I already made my case for why he won the 1st, 2nd and 5th rounds. The fight is judged on a round by round basis, not in totality.
Here's a copypasta from Reddit that says a lot of what I feel:
As time goes on, and I learn more about the sport, I always find that I appreciate what a chess match MMA is at the highest levels. It comes down to so much more than just brawling, but most MMA fans will never appreciate this.
Nick Diaz is a nightmare of a fighter. GSP was wrong: Fitch was not the Terminator, Nick Diaz is. Nick Diaz has an iron chin, is not afraid to eat shots, constantly presses forward, and throws an enormous volume of punches straight down the pipe at his opponent's faces. He never gets tired and he never quits. Once he gets someone pinned against the cage, he's basically unbeatable.
His little brother Nate used the exact same strategy against Cerrone, and made a multiple time Muay Thai champion look like an amateur striker. Nick pressed BJ Penn against the cage, and decisively outboxed one of MMA's greatest all time boxers. Not even Paul Daley, a man notorious for his punching power, could do enough damage to Nick to even slow him down.
Condit knew this, and he refused to fail where his predecessors had. Much like a bullfighter dodges a bull, Carlos would not have any of Nick's 'bullying' strategy. He knew how to circle out and not get pinned against the cage.
Make no mistake about it, Carlos was not afraid to trade strikes with Nick. The Fightmetric proves this. But everytime Nick started to get the upperhand, Carlos moved out of danger. He fought a perfect match. Carlos's movements were downright graceful, and well timed. Much like "Judo" translates to the "gentle way," Carlos refused to absorb the brunt of Nick's offense. He traded while he was winning, and immediately moved when Nick started landing.
I don't think most people understand the amount of skill and discipline it takes for a fighter to be able to pull off a gameplan like this. Most fighters with Condit's resume would have fallen in love with their fists and tried to take Diaz's head off when the first taunts came. But again Condit would not have any of it. Condit trusted his striking enough to trade with Diaz on his own terms, but gracefully refused to play into Diaz's hand.
Unfortunately, there is a rush of people complaining that Condit refused to actually 'fight' Diaz and that he kept running away. These people can't understand how masterfully Condit beat Diaz. It was perfect. He could not have been any more of a Kryptonite to Diaz's Superman.
Condit had the brains to figure out the plan, the talent to execute the plan, the conditioning to see it through, and the discipline to stick to it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is true talent. It is marvellous. We just witnessed a great fight, and it is a shame and a blackeye for the sport as a whole that anyone would expect Condit to brawl with Diaz against the cage otherwise suffer being called a coward.
Please, appreciate MMA for not only the violence, but also the athleticism, the talent, and the IQ it takes to not only win, but to win against the best of the best.
TL;DR People shouldn't call Carlos a coward. They should appreciate how masterfully he beat Diaz.
EDIT: It seems that a lot of people are bringing up the point that they're upset that Condit chose to fight for points instead of a finish. There's a lot to be said for this, although personally I would say that Condit did mostly the same things that he always does - flying knees, headkicks, spinning backfists- things that normally knock people the fuck out. The only difference was the constant pressure that Diaz put on him which didn't let him setup as accurately or with as much power. Also Nick has a monster chin. Meh, styles make fights.
EDIT 2: Hmm, seems like most anti Condit arguments boil down to the fact that people are upset that he wasn't willing to brawl. A lot of people are saying it's 'bad for the sport.' I don't see how, unless you're appealing to fans who just want to see a brawl. If that's your position, you may as well advocate banning clinches, ground games, or really anything that doesnt involve standing toe to toe and trading head punches.
