One of the UFC’s biggest crowd-pleasers has called it a career.
MMA Fighting broke the news that Carlos Condit, known to his legion of fans as ‘The Natural Born Killer’ is calling time on a 19-year, 46-fight career that took him to championship glory in both the WEC and the UFC.
Condit won the WEC welterweight title in March 2007 with a second-round rear-naked choke submission of John Alessio, then went on to defend his title three times, with his defences against Brock Larson, Carlo Prater and Hiromitsu Miura all coming via finish.
He joined the UFC roster in 2009 and, despite losing a split decision to Martin Kampmann on his octagon debut, Condit quickly hit form on the sport’s biggest stage as he defeated welterweight contenders Jake Ellenberger, Rory MacDonald, Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim to earn a shot at the interim UFC welterweight title at UFC 143.
Condit arrived in the title fight on a run of three consecutive knockout victories, but he showed his technical skill as he used his striking to outfox Nick Diaz to capture the title and set up a huge champion versus champion bout with undisputed welterweight king Georges St-Pierre at UFC 154.
Condit pushed St-Pierre all the way, but lost out on the scorecards to the welterweight GOAT in Montreal. But his performance, combined with his string of top-flight wins leading up to that title fight, ensured his legacy as one of the best 170 pounders in the UFC.
After his defeat to GSP, Condit struggled to regain his pre-title-fight form as he swapped wins and losses through the next three years before a run of five consecutive losses.
But, despite the worst run of his career, the UFC kept faith in the former interim champion, and wins over Court McGee and Matt Brown on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi showed that he’s still more than capable of throwing down with some of the toughest names in the division.
Condit eventually finished his active tenure with a record of 32-14, with a remarkable 28 of those 32 wins coming by finish. That stat, coupled with his penchant for octagon wars, cemented his status as one of the most respected fighters in recent UFC history.
The team at Fighters Only wishes Carlos all the best for his post-fight career.