“The Natural Born Killer” will step into the UFC octagon for the first time in 441 days on Saturday night as Carlos Condit returns from injury to meet Thiago Alves in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67 in Goiania, Goias, Brazil.
Condit (29-8) has been out of action since suffering a knee injury in his UFC 171 bout against Tyron Woodley, which he suffered a torn ACL and partially torn meniscus.
The 441 day layoff is the longest of Condit’s career and he will be looking to get back on track against Woodley. He is 1-3 in his last four fights since defeating Nick Diaz in 2012 to win the interim UFC welterweight title and he believes a key to victory on Saturday will be pushing the pace.
“He’s a phenomenal fighter, he’s good everywhere,” Condit said on UFC Tonight. “My key to victory is to push the pace, get in there, grind him, get him tired and then I can walk away with the victory.”
Alves is know for his leg kicks and with Condit coming off knee surgery, this has to be a concern for the fighter who trains out of Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA?
“I have to be aware of them whether my knee was injured or not,” he said. “I don’t want to take those kicks. I have to stay mobile and be well prepared with my game plan.”
A win over Alves would get Condit back on track and he will likely need a couple of wins in a row to put him back into title contention. When it comes to a timetable on a potential title shot, Condit explained there are a couple of factors on how long it will take.
“I think it depends on the fight between Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler. Rory’s been inching to get a shot at me for a while. I may be two or three fights away. I’m picking Rory this time. I think he’s learned from that first fight, he’ll open up a little bit and not be so conservative and walk with the belt.”