One of the best welterweight fighters on the planet is ready to return to action. Carlos Condit, the former interim UFC welterweight champion, will return after a year-long hiatus due to a knee injury when he faces off against Thiago Alves in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67, which takes place May 30 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight booking, which was rumored for weeks, was confirmed by MMAFighting.com. Condit vs. Alves is an awesome fight between two of the most devastating, technical strikers in the UFC welterweight division and fans are in for a real treat when it comes down later this spring. Condit hasn’t fought since UFC 171 last March after he blew out his knee against Tyron Woodley, but even with that loss he remains one of the top welterweights in the world. The 30-year-old American is 1-3 over his last four bouts, but considering those losses came to Woodley, Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks, that record is misleading. Condit is definitely one of the best 170lbers out there, and this fight with Alves is almost guaranteed to be fireworks. Speaking of the Brazilian, Alves recently picked up a huge win over Jordan Mein at UFC 183 that vaulted him back into the top 15 of the division. At one point in time, Alves was one of the top contenders at welterweight, but injuries have slowed down his career. Now healthy, though, “Pitbull” is ready to return to the rank of the top contenders at 170lbs and a win over Condit would put him right back on the road to another title shot. The line for this fight has already been released, with Condit currently sitting as a -260 favorite with the comeback on Alves at +180. Considering the fight is five rounds, it’s hard not to lean with Condit in this matchup, but the long layoff is certainly concerning and Alves will also have the hometown edge here since it takes place in Brazil. Still, “The Natural Born Killer” deserves to be favored heading into this fight. In addition to Condit vs. Alves, a women’s strawweight tilt between Julianna Lima and Jessica Penne was also added to UFC Fight Night 67. The news was first reported by Neil Rooke of CombatPress.com. This fight could end up being really boring. Lima is a huge strawweight, but she’s a grinder and she’s not very entertaining to watch. She is someone who likes to push her opponents against the fence and look for takedowns and then lie on top of them on the mat. It doesn’t make for very fun television, but she wins, and that’s the most important thing. As for Penne, the former Invicta FC atomweight champion, she picked up a split decision win over underrated Randa Markos in her UFC debut at the TUF 20 Finale and a win over Lima would help her hang onto her top 10 ranking in the UFC women’s strawweight division. An accomplished grappler, Penne will look to stay off of her back against Lima and try to get on top and go for submissions, but it won’t be easy considering the size gap. This is a tough fight to call, but I expect Penne to be favored based on her name recognition and popularity. But I think Lima, if she can get takedowns, has a chance to earn the upset, and this isn’t a fight I’ll be looking to bet.
