Condit turned down bout with Fitch, cites bad timing
Condit (26-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) confirmed that a fight with Fitch recently was on the table. But in the near…
Condit (26-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) confirmed that a fight with Fitch recently was on the table. But in the near term, he’d rather spend time with his family and get some rest and relaxation before he jumps into another fight camp.
“It just didn’t work out as far as timing went,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get a long enough camp in for Fitch for the time period that they were wanting me to fight.”
That time period was Super Bowl weekend, when UFC 126 rolls into the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. As MMAjunkie.com first reported, Fitch (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) is targeted to meet Jake Ellenberger (23-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at the Feb. 5 pay-per-view event, presumably on the televised main card.
Fresh off a stunning knockout of onetime contender Dan Hardy at this past month’s UFC 116 event, Condit now targets a March return to action.
The former WEC welterweight champion singled out Fitch in a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com, which led to intense speculation that a matchup was in the works. But when Ellenberger – a fighter he bested by split decision in September 2009 – got the nod, he shrugged.
And asked how Fitch vs. Ellenberger could play out, Condit let out a small chuckle.
“I imagine it will go like Fitch’s fights go, usually,” he said. “Ellenberger has a lot of power, and I don’t think Fitch is going to risk standing up with him for very long. So I imagine that he’s probably going to take [Ellenberger] down and outgrapple him. Fitch is a great fighter. I’m not taking anything away from him. I’m a fan. I just think he’s not really a finisher, and that’s his thing. But he’s one of the best fighters in the division either way.
