Skip to content

Condit leaning towards 'probably, possibly' being done with fighting

Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA TODAY

Following the fastest loss of his career, Carlos Condit knew the retirement questions were coming.

Condit was submitted by Demian Maia in under two minutes in the main event of UFC on FOX 21 in Vancouver. A prominent storyline heading into the bout concerned whether "The Natural Born Killer" would continue his career should he lose, since Condit himself had mentioned possibly walking away from MMA following a brutal split decision loss to Robbie Lawler in his last fight.

The loss to Maia was far less taxing, but also more definitive. At Saturday's post-fight press conference, Condit seemed to be inching closer to hanging up the gloves for good.

"It's definitely been in the back of my mind for a while now," said Condit. "Yeah, it's been a long career and I think there comes a point in every fighter's career that they have to kind of question how long they're going to continue to do that and I've been doing that for a little while.

"It wasn't my night tonight. I don't know if that's going to be the swan song for me, hopefully not, I would hate to go out on a loss like this. I would have at least liked to have got in there and put on an exciting show like I usually do. But I don't know what's in the cards, I'm leaning towards probably, possibly being done."

Condit has been trending downward since defeating Nick Diaz for an interim welterweight title four years ago. He lost a unification bout against Georges St-Pierre, and now only has two wins in his past seven fights.

Several of those fights took a major toll on Condit, both mentally and physically. His losses to St-Pierre, Lawler, and Johny Hendricks were grueling affairs, and a March 2014 bout against Tyron Woodley ended prematurely when Condit suffered a knee injury that put him on the shelf for over a year.

Though there are several intriguing options at 170 pounds for Condit, he's not planning to stick around unless he feels he can still compete with the best.

"I don't know man, I don't know if I have any business fighting at this level anymore," said Condit. "I've been at this for a really long time and the pressure of being one of the top guys for almost a decade - it's been awesome, I've loved being involved in this sport at the time that I have and I've got to do what I love for a living for a long period of time. But I don't know if I belong here anymore."

Should this be the end for Condit, he'll retire with a 7-6 record in the UFC and a 30-10 record overall. With a second child on the way, the decision to continue fighting could be out of his hands.

"I'll probably talk to the people around me, talk to my wife, and make the decision after we've had some discussion and done a little bit of assessing where I'm going, what's on the horizon."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox