The UFC schedule for the remainder of 2013 might just be the most ridiculous combination of talent spread out over the course of several pay-per-views and televised shows between now and December 28.
Six titles are up for grabs and some serious rivalries will be settled, but the fight that may end up having the most buzz surrounding it isn't even in the main event or co-main event slots for any upcoming show.
The moment the welterweight showdown between former interim champion Carlos Condit and Matt Brown was announced for the upcoming UFC on Fox: Pettis vs. Thomson card, just about everyone started salivating at the sheer prospect of what this fight could deliver.
In a ballet of violence, there may not be two better performers right now than Condit and Brown, and with both of them loading up a nuclear arsenal of weaponry as they head towards their fight in Sacremento on Dec 14, the excitement around this fight is already off the charts.
"I'm super excited to fight Matt, he's got a great style. The matchup stylistically's going to make for a really, really exciting fight," Condit said about the matchup. "After my last fight and his last fight there was kind of some buzz, people asking for this matchup to be made, and as soon as it was made my Twitter just blew up. People were losing it, really, really excited and I think rightfully so. This is going to be a great, great fight. Stylistically it's going to make for just a crazy, competitive match."
Condit is fresh off a TKO victory over Martin Kampmann in late August that put an end to a recent two-fight skid. The former interim welterweight champion is also notorious for being a very exciting fighter in the cage where he's won six post fight bonuses in his nine UFC fights with two Knockout of the Nights and four Fight of the Nights on his resume.
Standing across the Octagon from Condit will be Matt Brown, who currently rides a six-fight win streak into his bout at UFC on Fox: Pettis vs. Thomson.
Brown has become a master of painting the Octagon with the broken bodies of his opponents where he's finished five out of his last six fights by knockout or TKO. His last trip to the cage lasted only 29 seconds where Brown obliterated former training partner Mike Pyle at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen in Boston.
Now he has a chance to not only face a competitor that is sure to toss gasoline on an already raging fire, but Brown gets the opportunity to take on a top ranked welterweight with a chance to jump into title contention with a win.
"I'm excited. I've looked up to Carlos for a long time even in the WEC. I've been a fan of fighting for a long time and he's one of the guys I always like watching. I'm glad to be able to fight, I think he's ranked No. 2 or No. 3, so it's a great fight," Brown said. "Like he said stylistically, it's a great matchup. He's a type of guy that's not going to try and wrestle me and keep me on my butt for three rounds.
"He's going to try to take me down with his hands. That's the best takedown in the world—a left hook. So that's how I'm going to try to take him down, that's how he's going to try to take me down."
Brown understands that winning seven fights in a row in the UFC is a rarity, and beating Condit would immediately put him into the discussion to face the winner of the upcoming fight between Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
That's the exact reason Brown is in this fight and in the UFC in general—to get the chance to fight for the welterweight title. As a matter of fact, Brown is happy to just line them both up and fight them on the same night because why not?
"(Condit is ranked) No.2, if I beat him I should be ranked No. 1 right? Or at least ranked No. 2. Absolutely, I think so," Brown answered when asked about fighting for the belt next. "I don't know who else in the division. (I'll fight) both of them, I'll fight them both at once."
As excited as the entire mixed martial arts world appears to be about the prospect of Condit vs. Brown, there are at least a few disappointed souls that this fight is taking place.
Namely everyone else hoping to take home a 'Fight of the Night' bonus at UFC on Fox: Pettis vs. Thomson.
"I tried to get them off the card because there goes one bonus," Josh Thomson said with a laugh when talking about the potential powder keg brewing between Condit and Brown.
The two welterweights will now head back to their respective
camps before finally meeting on December 14 in Sacramento.
