UFC Vancouver - Maia vs Condit: The success of UFC 202 causes a killer of a card to be overlooked.

With a potential card of the year, and fight of the year occurring last weekend at UFC 202, Fight Night Vancouver will be looking to step up to the mark with some fascinating match-ups being overshadowed by last week's hecticness.

Condit will be looking to set up a title shot when he takes
on Demian Maia this Saturday
Credit: MMAFighting

Demian Maia. Eight years, twenty-three fights, and the most elite ground game you see in all of UFC to date. Carlos Condit. Seven years, twelve fights, and some of the crispest knees and elbows you will see in the UFC to date. Although Maia respectively has almost double the amount of bouts in the UFC then Condit, these pair come together this weekend in what sets out to be a number one contender fight (after Wonderboy faces recently crowned champ, Tyron Woodley). 

A lot is on the line for these two UFC veteran's, who are still peaking late in their careers, but are currently on very different paths. Maia has been on tear in recent at 170, a five-fight winning streak dispatching prospects such as Gunnar Nelson, and Neil Magny in the process. His Brazilian jiu-jitsu needs little of mentioning, it overwhelms his opponents, making his victories look effortless. Ask anyone, and most will tell you Maia's is on a different level compared to those within the UFC (bar a couple, Fabricio Werdum and Jacare Souza being the two that come to mind).

For Condit, the path has been a little more wayward leading up to this main event in Vancouver. Two steps forward one step back describes Condit's most recent UFC bouts, with only two wins from his last six, his journey has been arduous to say the least. However, that doesn't mean Condit will be discouraged coming into this one. After a back and forth five round war with Lawler in January, in which many believed he should of became welterweight champ, Condit will be looking to prove a point to the rest of the division, that he is by no means down and out of this stacked 170 weight class.

Anticipation is not lost when looking at the co-main event either. Three to four years ago, a freight train hit the lightweight division. A plethora of kicks and twists in his arsenal, Anthony Pettis' elite taekwondo skills lead him to finishes over several UFC veterans such as Donald Cerrone, Benson Henderson and Joe Lauzon.

Above: Pettis after knocking out Donald Cerrone via body kick at UFC on Fox 6.
Credit: Bloody Elbow

The highs are high, and the lows are very low. For Pettis, this could nt be such a fitting statement. Coming off three consecutive losses, all being thoroughly outclassed, many have forgotten about the force in which he once was at lightweight. Making the decision to drop ten pounds could re-ignite a spark in Pettis career, but Charles Oliveria will be looking to spoil the party. With an aggressive submission game, it is clear Pettis owns the striking, whereas Oliveria will favor this fight on the ground.

In addition to the main and co-main event, the main card for UFC Vancouver has two other fun matchups. Jim Miller takes on Joe Lauzon in their re-match of what was an end-to-end, bloody brawl in which Miller came out the victor at UFC 155.

Also strawweights Bec Rawlings and Paige VanZant kick off the main card in a match-up that contains two bulldog-like women who will bite down on their mouthpiece until the final bell is sounded.

UFC 202: As Conor seeks vengeance, Nate aims to eradicate the McGregor era once and for all.

The wait is finally (almost) over.  This coming Saturday, at the T-Mobile Arena, Nate Diaz will face Conor McGregor in what is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly waited, and tough-to-call rematches in UFC history. Cliché? Heard it all before? Yes, well, at the end of the day, it is McGregor who is fighting, so I should at least get some leeway on this one!

The pair get under each other's skin in an interview
on the Jay & Dan show prior to UFC 196.
Credit: Jay & Dan Podcast

Now don't worry, I won't ramble on for long about the magnitude of this re-match, as simply, there is no need too. However, what was impressive to me was not the fact that Nate beat Conor on eight days’ notice (yes of course that's notable in its own right) it was the fact in which eight days was all it took to break "all of" the UFC's records on one Saturday night. 

A press conference, and a couple interviews on some "Tim and Suzie nobody gives a fuck morning shows" to make 196 the biggest PPV in UFC history.  The Stockton style? The McGregor effect? Choose your pick.

Speculation has been drawn to the pairs last outing in which concludes down to one question: Did McGregor gas out? To answer this, we can look at two different approaches, from two very well respected trainers. Firstly, John Kavanagh who (surprise surprise) is McGregor's coach at SBG Charlestown and secondly, Firas Zahabi who is head coach at Tristar Gym in Montreal.

Just two days after Conor's first UFC defeat - Kavanagh told Ariel Helwani he had "never seen Conor breath that heavy before." This doesn't come as a surprise though. 'Exhaustion' and 'inefficiency' were the two words used by coach and fighter to describe the key components of Conor's downfall mid second round to the Stockton native.

McGregor and Coach Kavanagh feel exhaustion was the main factor in his loss,
however Firas Zahabi thinks otherwise.
Credit: Esther Lin - MMAFighting

On the flip side, Zahabi's pre-fight analysis of the match-up is somewhat a great contrast of Kavangh's. "McGregor did not get tired" Zahabi firmly states. "The one-two from Nate" adjoined with the psychological effect of Diaz not hitting the deck, like Conor's previous opponent's after the "big left hand shot," was what lead to his loss. "You're crazy" if you think it was his cardio.

Playing the devil's advocate in Firas' assessments is not often an easy role to take up. However due to the fact the fight was at welterweight, a weight in which McGregor had never competed in, a justifiable counter argument to Zahabi's strongly thought out analysis does seem clear. Conor himself stated he was eating steaks, rice and even ice cream for god sakes, in the lead up to this fight. A great quote from Kavanagh prior to UFC 196 was "You've seen him on salads watch what happens when he's on steaks!"

Left picture: UFC 194 Weigh In - vs Aldo at 145 pounds
Right picture: UFC 196 Weigh In - vs Diaz at 170 pounds
Credit: Esther Lin - MMAFighting

Packing on all that lean muscle mass (which is evident in before and after pictures of McGregor) can play a crucial role on one's cardiovascular fitness. Which, supporting Kavangh's theory, may of lead to Conor being exhausted by the end of the first. 

Scrap that all now. Because the pairs first fight was almost five months ago, so the talk of the town should be there upcoming one, not their first outing. 

A lot of changes have been made by McGregor’s camp in preparation for this re-match. Most notably is (for the first time ever) they are preparing for a specific opponent. Last minute pullouts have been a common theme of The Notorious' hectic schedule. But confident in the fact Diaz will (fingers crossed) show up on Saturday in one piece, the SBG camp have brought in guys from all over the world to emulate Nate's southpaw style. Dillon Danis - a multiple world time BJJ champion, and Conor Wallace - a six-time All-Ireland boxing champion are examples of this.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that two of the most charismatic showmen in the UFC are about to stand toe-to-toe, and create a twenty first century war is appealing, but it is not the key contributor in what makes this fight so special. We have seen re-matches on the grandest stage of all in the UFC - for example St Pierre vs Serra 2, Aldo vs Mendes 2 - and they just don't live up to the bill as the unpredictability is not there. A clear favourite is set and most usually, they always prevail as the victor. 

Not in this re-match though. Fans are split fifty-fifty, down the middle in their picks, half saying Diaz shows off his octagon experience again, and will overwhelm Conor with his endless skills wherever the fight may go. The other half predicting there is no way Nate escapes the Celtic cross for the second time. 

Saturday night, we will find out which half's prediction is fulfilled!