UFC's Condit still up for rematch with MacDonald, wants to improve wrestling

If he’d had two more rounds, Carlos Condit (28-7 MMA, 5-3 UFC) might have stolen Johny Hendricks’ thunder at UFC 158.

He didn’t, however, and Condit is back to the drawing board following a decision loss to the now-No 1. contender.

“I need time,” Condit told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I don’t necessarily need time off, but the last two fights, wrestling has definitely made the difference. I need some time to really, really focus on that, and get that aspect of my game tightened up.”

Hendricks took down Condit at will for much of the three-round fight, which served as his final hurdle before a title shot at welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. It is just the second time in Condit’s career that he’s suffered back-to-back losses.

Where his career goes next, Condit isn’t sure. As he sat at the podium at UFC 158's post-event press conference on March 16, he realized he’d fought every fighter beside him.

Champ Georges St-Pierre? Decision loss. Hendricks? Same. Jake Ellenberger? Split-decision win.

Condit could very easily be back in the cage with any of them, and anticipates he will. He is a former WEC champion and UFC interim titleholder who’s carved out a place near the top of the 170-pound class, and his losses and wins are against top-flight competition.

More than that, Condit may have cemented himself as a fan favorite for his gutsy performance late in the fight against Hendricks, who faded in late in the fight just as Condit surged. If a fight were won on applause, he might have taken the decision.

“I have a feeling that my next year or two may be a lot of rematches,” he said.

One of those possible do-overs wasn’t spoken for at UFC 158, but should have been. Condit originally was scheduled to fight Rory MacDonald, who was forced from the event with a neck and back strain. When they first met at UFC 115, Condit struggled in early rounds only to stage a late rally that won him a TKO in the waning moments of the three-round fight.

The depth of MacDonald’s shame over the loss was made clear when he called out Condit following a career-high win over B.J. Penn at UFC on FOX 5. A rematch wasn’t a linear career choice given the fact that Condit had lost to St-Pierre two months prior, but MacDonald seemed borderline obsessed with getting his comeuppance.

Condit remains happy to give him the chance.

“He really took the loss personal, so he’s made the callout personal,” Condit said. “But I think he’d be a great fight.”

Although MacDonald’s health remains touch and go since another recent tweak that pushed back his timetable for return, Condit said he’d be happy to wait until August or September to accommodate his former foe.

His reasons for accepting the rematch remain the same as when he first heard the callout.

“There was some controversy on the stoppage,” Condit said. “Also, he’s got a lot of hype on him. He’s done really well since that fight. He’s a up-and-comer with a lot of hype around him, and he called me out. I think we have unfinished business because of that.”

There’s another goal unfinished, too: winning the undisputed title. It might be a while before he gets another chance at that belt, but Condit isn’t giving up.

“I’ve already exceeded a lot of my own expectations, but I haven’t reached a goal that I set,” he said. “So that’s something I’m working toward, but it’s just one fight at a time.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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