Carlos Condit, whose wife is Seager Marie McCullah, had come so close to a striking knockout triumph against the outwardly invincible Georges St-Pierre only to lose by undivided results.
He left with no belt, but take it easy, Condit did not leave a loser. Few fighters have ever gained more from a beating than Condit did after losing to St-Pierre at UFC 154.
On Saturday in the co-main episode of UFC 158 in the very same site, Condit will come back for a fight vrs. Johny Hendricks that could have been, under a little unusual circumstances, the first defense of his welterweight title.
Condit kicked St-Pierre in the head in the third round and seemed on the edge of a remarkable triumph He went for the end with the fierceness of a man who knew how close he was to fulfilling a long-time vision and capturing the UFC title.
St-Pierre, though, showed robustness and rigidity that many weren’t sure he had. Condit knew even as he went to end with St-Pierre that the winner wouldn’t give up submissively.
Condit said:
Georges showed how badly he wanted it, he really did. You have to give him a lot of credit. As soon as he hit the ground and I jumped on top of him [looking for the finish], he was trying to recover and find the best way to get up and stay in the fight. That says a lot about him.
The technique Condit handled the whole thing says a lot regarding him, too. He was very good in the upsurge, doing every conference, always handling himself proficiently and with class.
He fulfilled his post-fight responsibilities and by no means once complained or did no matter which to take away from St-Pierre’s triumph.
He admits:
Whenever you work so hard and so long for something, sure, it’s tough to take when you come up short,” Condit said. “But I wouldn’t say there have been sleepless nights or anything. I don’t dwell on it. I know I came close, but coming close is not good enough.
Condit, although, considerably strengthened his brand name, both by the brave way in which he fought against one of the UFC’s best fighters, but also by the way in which he carried himself.
But Condit can also take comfort in the reality that he’s not going to have to hang around much longer for another title attempt if he defeats Hendricks, mainly if St-Pierre also beats Diaz in Saturday’s major event.
Condit’s manager Malki Kawa said:
Johny Hendricks deserves to be the No. 1 contender right now the way he’s been knocking guys out,”
“If Carlos beats Hendricks, after everything else he’s done, I’m going to push for that title shot again, for sure.
Condit thought he’d be fighting MacDonald on Saturday, but he was. Condit accepted the revised wrestle with no qualms, even though it meant switching to a somewhat unlikely technique fighter in mid-stream.
Condit said:
Johny is less technical maybe than [MacDonald] but he’s extremely dangerous with his power.
Rory has less power, but a more polished style and more tools in his arsenal. There’s a slightly different approach to fighting either guy, but it’s hard for me to say which of them is more dangerous. Honestly, look at what they’ve done: They’re equally dangerous. There is some change, but it’s not a whole lot. Rory has really good wrestling. He trains with GSP and in his recent fights, his takedowns and his ground-and-pound has been impressive. Johny Hendricks, lately, relies more on his stand-up and his KO power. There are some specific game-play differences between the two, but overall, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.
If I’m going to look at myself as a potential champion, these are the guys I’d have to fight anyway,” he said. “At one point or another, I knew I would see Johny. I knew I would see Rory again. That’s the way it is in the UFC and you have to be willing to accept the fact that you’re going to be fighting the best guys available each time out.
If he is so classy so is his wife, Seager Marie. She is a personal trainer, teaches boxing and she used to train MMA! That is in fact how she met her husband back in 2005. She was training and Carlos was teaching kickboxing.
She even said during an interview:
I haven’t been able to get rid of him since.
Her brother introduced her into MMA world and she just loved it ever since.
She is also a model for Carlos’ Headrush brand. She is a personal trainer working for this Fitness Kicks in Albuquerque where they live.
Seager’s Twitter here.
