UFC Fight Night 67: Condit vs. Alves Date: May 30, 2015 Location: Goiania, Brazil Venue: Goiania Arena Broadcast: FS1 UFC Welterweight Carlos Condit (-170) Former interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit (29-8) has seen the mountaintop of the sport, but he’s never made it fully all the way to the top. Condit is 1-3 in his last four, with a knockout over Martin Kampmann being his only win in the last three years, with his losses coming in wars with elite fighters in Georges St-Pierre, Tyron Woodley and Johny Hendricks. Despite those losses, Condit has has wins over a who’s who of welterweight studs, including Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger, just to name a view, proving his status as a top-flight fighter. His nickname, “The Natural Born Killer,” couldn’t be more appropriate. In his 29 wins he’s finished 27 of his fights, with only Nick Diaz and Jake Ellenberger making it the distance with him. Everyone else however, has fallen victim to Condit’s wide variety of striking and solid Jackson/Winkeljohn trained ground game. You never know where he’s coming from, he has a bottomless gas tank, and he can knock you out or submit you if you make one mistake. Condit is the complete package and he’s one of the toughest fighters in the welterweight division, and coming back from a year-long injury layoff, he plans to show that against Thiago Alves in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67. UFC Welterweight Thiago Alves (+130) One of the most dangerous welterweight fighters of all time, Thiago Alves (21-9) is someone the whole division fears. The 31-year-old Brazilian has collected 13 wins in his UFC career, including victories over the likes of Jordan Mein, Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes. He has eight knockouts in the division, which is one behind Matt Brown for most T/KO wins in UFC welterweight division history. Alves was once a title contender, but injuries and bad weight cuts took a toll on his career. He missed two years from 2012 to 2014, but since returning from his injuries he has gone 2-0 with wins over Mein by TKO and Seth Baczynski by decision and overall has looked great. Alves is making a career comeback at age 31, and the UFC is giving him a huge opportunity by matching him up with top contender Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 67, because with a win, Alves may yet be closer to another crack at the title, something which seemed impossible not all that long ago. Opening Fight Night 64 Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Condit a -170 favorite (bet $170 to win $100) while Alves opened as a +130 underdog (bet $100 to win $130) at Several Bookmakers. Condit hasn’t fought in over a year but now that he’s back, he’s looking to jump back into title contention and a win over Alves would put him right there. Alves has looked tremendous as of late, going 2-0 since making his return to the Octagon and overall he’s looking like the killer he use to be. This is a close matchup on paper, but the key is the five rounds. Condit is one of those guys who gets stronger as the fight goes on while Alves tends to fade. Alves will make things interesting early and you have to be careful about Condit’s knee, but overall “The Natural Born Killer” is the more complete mixed martial artist and he deserves to be the favorite heading into this fight.
