Carlos Condit and Matt Brown got a chance to show off their wrestling in a welterweight co-main event tonight at UFC Fight Island 7.
Condit opened the fight with a fast flurry of combos, focusing heavily on kicks before being taken down by Brown at a minute into the fight. Condit locked up half-guard and landed head strikes as Brown dug his head forward into Condit. As Brown postured up, Condit moved to full guard. Brown was bleeding significantly from his head — seemingly a result of scraping it against the cage during the takedown — as he tried to pass Condit’s guard. Condit, however, worked to get back to his feet and managed to switch the position as Brown tried to take him back down. Brown inverted and tried to work for one of Condit’s legs as the round finished while trying to avoid damage from Condit’s fists and elbows before the round ended.
Condit came forward with some big kicks to start off round two and ended up catching a big elbow from Brown across the face. Brown ate a solid body kick and tried to lock Condit up for a takedown, but Condit managed to stay on his feet. After a quick combo from Condit, Brown forced his opponent to the cage, landing a few knees to the body as he tried to bring Condit down. It was Condit, however, who ended up taking the fight to the ground with a leg sweep. Brown scrambled back up, but Condit was relentless and twisted him back to the ground, ending up in Brown’s guard and laying down punches and elbows as he tried to pass. The round moved to round three.
Condit immediately went for a body kick in round three, but missed his target and accidentally hit Brown in the groin. Brown quickly recovered, though, and when the fight resumed, Brown tried to take Condit to the ground. Condit capitalized on a single-leg to get both hooks in to take Brown’s back, getting creative and grabbing a leg to pressure him to the ground. He kept a hook in and used his wrestling to keep Brown driven to the mat, but eventually, Brown managed to escape the position, ending up defending against a loose triangle in Condit’s guard. As Condit transitioned to closed guard and then opened it, Brown found an opportunity to get to his feet, opening up some great back-and-forth as Condit tried to take Brown down and ended up on the bottom playing guard again. The fighters went the distance and left the decision up to the judges.
Condit was awarded the decision, boosting his record to 32-13.
