Carlos Condit believes Demian Maia ‘plays it safe’, vows to ‘make him fight’

After his January bout with Robbie Lawler at UFC 195, Carlos Condit outright suggested he could be done in mixed martial arts. There were a couple of scenarios that could bring him back, he noted at the time. He’d take a rematch with Lawler, since he lost the first bout via close split decision. Eventually, he’d say a fight with the Nick Diaz, once he was off suspension, was also of interest.

Eventually, though, neither of those bouts materialized, yet Condit chose to return, taking a fight with top contender and elite jiu-jitsu black belt Demian Maia for late August.

On Monday on The MMA Hour, Condit explained his reasoning for the slow drift back to more regular competition.

“A number of reasons. First and foremost, I still got a little bit of time in the sport, I think. Still got some fights in me,” he confessed. “I love it. I love what I do. This is a passion for me. Also, this is how I make a living. This is my job. I got bills to pay, I have kids to feed.”

Ultimately, Condit revealed, he knew he wasn’t getting precisely what he wanted, but he wasn’t ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. More importantly, he realized the path to the title through Maia is a tough, but relatively short one.

“I was on the fence until…it could’ve gone either way,” he noted. “If an opportunity presented itself and it sounded like it was something enticing, I think I had decided ‘Ok, I’ll take it.’ The fight with [Demian] Maia, it’s a tough fight. He’s a tough match-up for anybody, but that being said, it gets me back into title contention. I beat Demian Maia, I’m the no. 1 contender, I feel. And I’m back in position to get the belt around my waist again.

“I like the idea of fighting him because he is one of the best in the world. He’s got a tricky style. It’s, without a doubt, a challenge. It’s going to be a tough puzzle to solve, but I like challenging myself. That’s why I do this. One of the reasons to pit my skills and my abilities against other …

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