It would take something and someone special, Carlos Condit has said, to lure him back into the Octagon after his brutal loss by controversial split decision to Robbie Lawler in January.
UFC veteran welterweight Demian Maia, it turns out, is that someone. And UFC 202 is that something. The UFC made the announcement today.
Albuquerque’s Condit (30-9) has accepted a fight against Brazil’s Maia (23-6) scheduled for Aug. 20 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card is headlined by a return/grudge match between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. It also features a welterweight battle between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (30-7), Condit’s teammate at Albuquerque’s Jackson-Wink Mixed Martial Arts, and Tacoma, Wash., veteran Rick Story (19-8).
After the disputed loss to Lawler for the UFC welterweight title, Condit, 32, considered retirement. But he never closed the door on a return and continued to train at Jackson-Wink.
On June 13, he tweeted a cryptic but eye-catching message: “One more. …”
Then, Monday, Condit got more specific. “Might have some news regarding my next fight soon,” he tweeted. “…. Stay tuned.”
In the person of Maia, Condit will be facing one of MMA’s and the UFC’s true warriors. The 38-year-old Sao Paulo native made his UFC debut in 2007 and is 17-6 in UFC competition. Maia will bring a five-fight win streak into UFC 202, his most recent victory coming against Matt Brown by third-round submission (rear naked choke) May 14 on UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil.
