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NOT AS ADVERTISED, BUT POSSIBLY THE BEST TACTICAL DISPLAY OF 2012 TO DATE

Anyone who read my pre-fight breakdown knows that I was seriously salivating over what appeared to be a surefire barnburner between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. I really thought the matchup had all the necessary ingredients for a “Fight of the Year” performance. The fight certainly didn’t live up to the hype from an all-action standpoint, but that does not, in any way, detract from what was a near flawless performance by Condit.

“The Natural Born Killer” committed to a game plan that consisted of sticking and moving with the use of constantly changing angles. He never varied from that attack, not even for a minute. Sure, Diaz trapped him a few times, forcing Condit to fight with his back against the cage. But those exchanges lasted only a few brief seconds before the new interim champion circled away from the cage and resumed his tactical approach.

Diaz pleaded with him over and over to stand and fight, using vitriolic trash talking, taunts with his hands at his side, and doing just about everything else he could think of to try and goad his foe into a brawl. Condit never gave in to temptation, despite the fact that his natural inclination is to plant his feet and go to war with opponents. Anyone who believes that is easy to do should go back and watch Diaz’s career over the last four or five years. Every one of his opponents, except for British slugger Paul Daley, entered the cage with the same game plan. Only Condit was able to successfully implement it.

While the end result wasn’t a “Fight of the Year” battle, it was a virtuoso tactical performance, arguably the best of 2012 so far.

DEFEND OR NOT TO DEFEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Condit’s win over Diaz brought him a share of the championship that he so desperately coveted, but the belt comes with a dilemma. UFC President Dana White revealed after the fight that champion Georges St-Pierre is nowhere near being ready to resume full mixed martial arts training. The current estimate is the champion will finish his rehabilitation sometime in June, which means he won’t likely return to competition until November, at the earliest.

GSP’s health leaves Condit in a precarious position. He has to decide whether to wait for GSP and unify the belts in his next fight or take an optional defense while the Canadian standout is on the mend.  That may seem like an easy choice, but this is anything but an easy decision. Let’s look at both sides of the issue.

The argument in favor of waiting is an easy one to make. First and foremost, Condit knows that his title is only a placeholder until GSP returns. He will forever be able to refer to himself as a UFC titlist, but not a champion, until he defeats GSP (or GSP fails to return from his current injury exile). Thus, he hasn’t really accomplished his goal of reaching the pinnacle of the sport. Not yet anyway.

Taking an interim fight in the unpredictable world of the UFC, where there is no such thing as a tune-up or keep-busy championship bout, creates a risk that he will never actually receive the opportunity to challenge for the true championship. Thus, the risk created by defending the interim belt outweighs the reward, in terms of building Condit’s legacy in the sport.

Second, if there is ever a time to face GSP, who is one of the best fighters on the planet, pound for pound, it is right after he returns from a major injury. GSP will have to deal with the dreaded cage rust when he returns. I’m not listening to any argument to the contrary.

There is no way that he will be as sharp in his first fight back as he was in his last bout. The issues caused by the time away from active training and actual fighting are compounded by the mental hurdle associated with getting over an ACL tear is no joke. It takes most athletes some reps in actual competition, even once fully healed and rehabilitated, to subconsciously believe that the knee is ready for game speed. I will be shocked, if GSP is any different.

GSP, therefore, should have holes in his game that might not otherwise be present, if Condit faces him at any other point in their respective careers. Why risk blowing that opportunity, just to take an interim fight?

The argument for taking an interim fight is also pretty straightforward. Any advantage that Condit has over GSP due to the champion’s injury-forced exile is tempered by the interim champion self-exiling himself for a long period of time.

Keep in mind that the longest layoff of Condit’s career is 269 days. If he fights GSP on November 1, he will break his personal inactive mark by two days, and there is no guarantee that the true champion will be ready by November 1. Any little setback in his rehabilitation or preparation could postpone the fight even further, which means cage rust will be just as big of a problem for Condit as it is GSP.

Think otherwise? Talk to Rashad Evans about hanging around and waiting for an opportunity, rather than remaining busy. He will quickly admit that long stretches away have affected his subsequent performances. Again, why would Condit be any different?

Equally relevant is the fact that the fight game is as much about earning a living as it is competition. Condit doesn’t get paid to sit on the sidelines. He gets paid when he fights. Does it make financial sense to wait until November or possibly later for his next payday? Remember, we are talking about a guy with a wife, baby and new mortgage.

I’m a firm believer that fighters need to maximize their earnings during their brief time in sport. All fighters have very limited shelf lives. The question of “what’s next” once their career reaches its expiration date is a daunting one for all but the wealthiest of fighters, particularly since the expiration date arrives at different times for different fighters. It is a date that is nearly impossible to predict. So, passing up lucrative paydays, even in the face of risking a potentially more lucrative one down the road with GSP, seems like financial suicide to me.

Equally important, however, is the mental aspect of opting to sit on the sidelines. Think about it for a minute. If Team Condit attempts to talk their man into waiting for GSP, I question whether that would create a little doubt in the back of his mind. After all, if he isn’t good enough to defeat whomever the UFC puts in front of him, what makes anyone think he is good enough to defeat the man who many believe to be the single best fighter in the world? Will that self doubt cause hesitation when he actually receives the opportunity to fight GSP?

I’m a firm believer that Condit should take an interim defense of the interim title, based on GSP’s protracted timetable. Not only will it help maximize his short-term earnings, it will also put him in the best possible position, in my opinion, to remain at the top of his game for when the opportunity to face GSP does finally arise.

What would you do, if you were advising “The Natural Born Killer”? Let me know in the comment section below.

PAY NO MIND TO THE RETIREMENT TALK

Nick Diaz announced after the loss to Condit that he was hanging up the vale tudo gloves. To quote Public Enemy, “don’t believe the hype.”

Diaz isn’t going anywhere. Not after that loss, anyway. His words inside the Octagon were those of a deeply frustrated fighter who believed that, once again, he was treated wrongly by the system. I’m not so sure that he will continue to hold that belief when he goes back and watches the tape of the fight.

For the record, I scored the fight 3-2 for Diaz, giving him the nod in rounds one, two and five. The first two rounds were easy to score, in my opinion, as were rounds three and four. The final round was a bear, and I’ll admit that I still go back and forth on that one.

On one hand, Condit definitely landed more in terms of striking volume and significant strikes. He also showed far better Octagon control by darting in and out, while Diaz continually and ineffectively chased him around.

On the other hand, the takedown followed by the back mount was the single most dominant position of the round for either fighter. Condit was in more danger of getting stopped in those moments than Diaz was at any point in the fight. Of course, Diaz didn’t actually come very close with any of his submission attempts, so there is a school of thought that says I shouldn’t give so much weight to the takedown and back mount. It is a completely subjective question, one that I actually don’t feel that strongly about. In fact, after re-watching the fight, I am actually starting to lean toward Condit for the final round.

Whatever your scoring philosophy, the bout was close enough that it wasn’t highway robbery for either man to drop the decision on Saturday night. Diaz should not feel as if he has been wronged by the establishment. He should instead ask himself why he was unable to cut off the cage when Condit was on his bicycle, or why he didn’t get off first when Condit came into range. It was a very un-Diaz-like performance, one that I chalk up to a bad night mixed with a virtuoso effort by Condit.

Diaz isn’t going anywhere, folks. Trust me on that one. In fact, I think he is probably just one win away from re-asserting himself as the number one contender. Dana White mentioned in a post-fight interview that Diaz versus Josh Koscheck would be an interesting next fight. I agree. I think that is an excellent way to shake out who stands behind Condit, if he opts to wait for GSP. If Condit decides to take an interim challenge, I think Diaz has a strong argument that he deserves a rematch.

Either way, my guess is that Nick Diaz will be back in action inside the Octagon before summertime.

The MMA Hour is back in your life on Monday with another loaded show. Here's who will be stopping by:

* Diego Sanchez will discuss his UFC on FUEL TV 1 fight against Jake Ellenberger on Feb. 15.

* Greg Jackson will discuss Carlos Condit's win over Nick Diaz.

* Cesar Gracie will explain why he thinks Diaz deserved to win the UFC 143 main event.

* Jason "Mayhem" Miller will discuss what's next for him and look back at UFC 143's main event between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit.

* Dave Herman will preview his UFC on FUEL TV 1 fight against Stefan Struve.

* And MMAFighting.com's Ben Fowlkes will look back at UFC 143.

Got a question or comment? Give us a call at 1-888-418-4074.

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.

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Georges St. Pierre hasn't lost a fight -- and really hasn't even been tested -- in four years. That's about to change.

Carlos Condit, who won the UFC interim welterweight title by beating Nick Diaz on Saturday night at UFC 143, is going to test St. Pierre in a way he hasn't been tested in years. The next time GSP steps into the Octagon, he'll be stepping into the Octagon with the best opponent he's faced.

We knew heading into Saturday night how physically tough Condit was. You don't win 27 professional MMA fights and win four in a row in the UFC, as Condit already had heading into Saturday night, without a whole lot of toughness.

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What Condit showed against Diaz is how mentally tough he is. Condit survived 25 minutes against one of the best welterweights in the world and never wilted. Condit didn't change his game plan in the second round when Diaz started to get the better of the striking exchanges and began openly taunting Condit, as Diaz so often has to his opponents. And Condit didn't panic and didn't give in during the final minute of the fight, when Diaz took him down and took his back. A lot of men -- even a lot of great fighters -- would have been ready to break by that point. Condit couldn't be broken.

So is Condit good enough to beat GSP? As a striker, I believe he's already better than GSP. And he has a more diverse array of submissions than GSP as well. The big question is whether Condit's wrestling and takedown defense will prove to be good enough that he can stay off his back against St. Pierre. That's a tall order, but I like Condit's chances.

St. Pierre is also, of course, coming off a serious knee injury -- the kind of injury that some athletes never fully recover from. And St. Pierre will be battling ring rust when he fights Condit: By the time he's ready to step into the Octagon in November, he'll have been off for a year and a half. St. Pierre is also three years older than Condit. Those are all factors that favor Condit.

GSP will be the betting favorite heading into that fight, but Condit has a very good chance to win it. When Condit beat Diaz on Saturday night, we may have seen the man who has what it takes to beat GSP.

UFC 143 Notes

-- Fabricio Werdum showed off some great muay Thai in his victory over Roy Nelson. Werdum's stand-up has looked ugly in a couple of bad losses to the two best heavyweights in the world, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, but make no mistake: He's a very good striker in addition to being the best heavyweight grappler in all of MMA.

-- Matt Riddle's split decision victory over Henry Martinez gives him a respectable UFC record of 6-3, but let's be honest: Riddle is not a very good fighter. He barely got by Martinez, an undersized opponent who took the fight on short notice, and Riddle's other UFC wins are over DeMarques Johnson, Greg Soto, Dan Cramer, Steve Bruno and Dante Rivera. Not exactly a murderer's row.

-- When the 20-year-old Max Holloway stepped into the Octagon with the 23-year-old Dustin Poirier, we got a great look at the future of the featherweight division. Poirier put on a tremendous display on the ground in forcing Holloway to tap out to an arm bar from a mounted triangle, but give Holloway credit for the way he tested Poirier on the feet at the start of the fight. Poirier is a future featherweight title contender, and with work on his ground game Holloway could be too.

-- The UFC's new pay-per-view opening is an improvement over the old gladiator opening, but I still think there should be a fresh new opening with each show and the focus should immediately be on that night's main event fighters.

UFC 143 Quotes

"I know I'm the most hated man in MMA." -- Josh Koscheck, egging on the fans after they booed him following his split decision win over Mike Pierce.

"Don't fall for it when he's talking to you."--Greg Jackson telling Carlos Condit not to get sucked into Nick Diaz's style of fight. Jackson's advice was wise; it came after the second round, when Diaz was taunting Condit and trying to bait him into a brawl, but from the third round on Condit seemed comfortable and ready to fight his fight.

"Those lead leg round kicks -- we work them a lot in karate -- people don't see them." -- Stephen Thompson, after knocking out Dan Stittgen on the first fight of the night. Thompson was right: Stittgen certainly didn't see that kick coming. Thompson is an exciting new fighter for the UFC.

Good Call

Referee Kim Winslow stepped in at just the right time to stop the fight in Matt Brown's technical knockout victory over Chris Cope. After Brown knocked Cope down, Winslow gave Cope a chance to protect himself on the ground before stepping in to stop the fight when Brown landed two more punches that Cope couldn't answer. Stopping the fight immediately when Brown knocked Cope down would have been too quick because Cope was still conscious and trying to get into a better position. Stopping it any later would have subjected Cope to too much punishment. Winslow's stoppage was perfect.

Bad Call

I disagreed with referee Herb Dean taking two points away from Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres after his second low blow of the fight. Warning Caceres for the first low blow was the right call, but the second low blow should have only resulted in one point being deducted, not two. A two-point deduction would have been appropriate for an intentional low blow, but both of Caceres's kicks appeared to be accidental low blows. The judges gave the fight to Edwin Figueroa by split decision, 28-27, 28-27 and 27-28, which means that if Dean had only deducted one point instead of two, it would have been a majority draw.

Later in the same card, Dean again faced a situation where he warned a fighter about a foul and then that fighter committed the very same foul he had been warned about: Dean warned Josh Koscheck to keep his fingers away from Mike Pierce's eyes, and then Koscheck poked Pierce in the eye after that warning. But this time Dean only warned Koscheck again instead of taking even one point away, let alone deducting two points.

Stock Up

When Ed Herman lost three of four fights in 2008 and 2009 and then missed nearly two years with a knee injury, it was reasonable to wonder if his career might be coming to an end. Instead, Herman's stock has shot up with three straight wins since returning from that knee injury, and he looked great on Saturday night. Herman is fighting as well as he ever has.

Stock Down

Michael Kuiper entered UFC 143 as a well-regarded prospect with an 11-0 record, but he wasn't ready for an opponent on the level of Rafael Natal, who beat him by unanimous decision. Kuiper is only 22 years old and may have a good future in the UFC, but he's not there yet.

Fight I Want To See Next

Carlos Condit vs. Georges St. Pierre. This is going to be fun.