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Is Carlos Condit the UFC’s forgotten man? Sean Shelby says not so fast
Filed under: News, UFC, Videos
With a handful of high-profile matchups on UFC 219’s main card, the long-awaited return of Carlos Condit may be flying a little under the radar. But even if “The Natural Born Killer” isn’t garnering a ton of headlines at the moment, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby says don’t expect it to stay that way should he prove victorious next Saturday night.
“I don’t even know if you want to call him ‘the forgotten man’ because the fan response to his return has been astounding,” Shelby said in the latest edition of the UFC series “Watch List.” “That’s actually surprising to me. He’s had this long layoff, but he’s jumping back in there against a super relevant, tough guy. There’s no cupcakes in his return here, and to me that’s the most intriguing thing: You just have no idea. Is the old Carlos going to show up like he didn’t miss a beat?”
Condit (30-10 MMA, 7-6 UFC), who fights for the first time in 16 months, faces Neil Magny (19-6 MMA, 12-5 UFC) in the first main card bout of UFC 219, which takes at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view main card follows prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
A former interim welterweight title holder, Condit is not longer featured in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings but does still sit at No. 8 in UFC’s official list.
Nevertheless, Shelby believes that Condit’s star quality and “it factor” mean that with an impressive performance or two – and he’s certainly capable of delivering exactly that – would put him right back at the top of the division.
“There’s something about him that’s just different and people gravitate towards,” Shelby said. “If he gets the win, you know it’s very relevant, and he’s back in the top-10. He’s back in title contention. I mean, he’s still there in the rankings, but for all intents and purposes, very relevant against very relevant competition.”
Oddsmakers have installed Condit as a slight favorite in the matchup, but the question marks are certainly there. Before his self-imposed layoff, Condit dropped back-to-back fights to Demian Maia and Robbie Lawler and admitted he had lost some of his passion to fight.
Has the time away restored his drive? We’ll find out at UFC 219.
“It’s just an intriguing matchup to see which Carlos shows up,” Shelby said.
Check out UFC matchmakers Shelby and Mick Maynard as they sit down with Jon Anik to preview UFC 219’s main card.
For more on UFC 219, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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