• UFC 117

Condit would rather fight Fitch than Alves

ESPN staff
August 4, 2010
Carlos Condit believes Jon Fitch will beat Thiago Alves © UFC
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Carlos Condit has revealed in an exclusive interview with ESPN.co.uk that he would prefer to face Jon Fitch, not Thiago Alves, if he gets past Dan Hardy at UFC 120.

Fitch and Alves clash at UFC 117 this weekend, in a welterweight collision that will iron out who is the No. 3 fighter in the 170lb division. Fitch beat Alves in their first clash, but that was four years ago.

UFC UK president Marshall Zelaznik recently hinted to ESPN.co.uk that the winner of the Fitch v Alves bout could meet the winner of Condit v Hardy in the near future, and Condit fully anticipates Fitch will come out on top. However, when it comes to picking which man he would rather meet, the Jackson's Submission fighter claims he has the tools to become only the second man in the UFC to defeat Fitch.

"They're both very tough match-ups, they're dangerous fighters and they have a lot of tools. But the better match-up for me would be Jon Fitch," stated Condit, who was the last WEC welterweight champion before the division was dissolved.

"That's not taking anything away from Fitch, it's just the lesser of two evils. They're both killers.

"Fitch isn't as much of a finisher as Thiago Alves, he's more about grinding his opponent into the ground - literally. With my jiu-jitsu, I could withstand that and do better than a lot of guys have done."

Giving his thoughts on Saturday's fight, Condit feels Alves' lengthy lay-off for knee and brain problems will be a factor.

"Thiago's coming off a long lay-off so we'll see if that has any effect on him," he said. "I see Fitch winning it because I think he'll be busier and I see Thiago being a little rusty."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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