UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre used to say he trained to meet an army so no one man could ever defeat him.
Carlos (Natural Born Killer) Condit must knows how he feels.
The 27-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., trained to face B.J. Penn, St-Pierre, and Josh Koscheck only to see the fights fall by the wayside. That circuitous road eventually led to a showdown with Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
"It's been quite a ride, man," Condit told The Canadian Press. "A lot of ups and downs, but the consolation for me is I didn't really have a choice in any of this stuff so I just tried to focus on what I have control over."
The winner at the Mandalay Bay Events Center earns the UFC interim title, a meaningless crown other than it comes with a chance to meet St-Pierre to unify the title once the incumbent champion recovers from knee surgery.
While both Condit (WEC) and Diaz (Strikeforce) have held titles before, they have essentially gone under the radar (Condit) or been misunderstood (Diaz).
Whatever happens Saturday, mixed martial arts fans have got to know both fighters a lot better thanks to the excellent "UFC Primetime" series that aired in the leadup to the card.
Condit, a talented fighter who has deserved more attention than he has got in recent years, was portrayed on the show as a decent family man who found his calling in mixed martial arts.
The bigger revelation was the 28-year-old Diaz (27-7-1), who in the past had come across as a thug-like boor on the surface. The series reintroduced him as a loyal, single-minded athlete willing to dispense with the social niceties in search of excellence.
After all the revolving door involving his opponents, Condit finds himself on the verge of UFC stardom. It's something he admits he never thought of when he got into the sport.
Like Diaz, Condit started martial arts as a youth. Titles were never part of his original 'to do' list.
"When I first started as a teenager, I did it because I loved it," said Condit. "The sports wasn't where it is today but I never knew if I would be any good or I would go anywhere with it. It was just a passion."
Condit was 15 when he got into the sport, looking for a gym in the phonebook. He found a good one under the leadership of trainer Greg Jackson, who like Condit has gone on to rise to the top of the MMA world.
"One of the big parts of the success of Jackson's (gym) is we've got guys all over the world, new blood coming in all the time., "said Condit. "You get to experience a lot of different styles and looks."
Condit (27-5) has paid attention.
The six-foot-one fighter has finished an amazing 26 of his 27 wins — 13 by TKO and 13 by submission. Only one (Jake Ellenerberger in 2009) has gone to a decision.
Condit's first 17 fights did not make it out of the first round — and Condit won 15 of them.
Condit knows he has a well-stocked fight cupboard. But he also knows, at this level, his opponents bear watching.
"I feel like as long as I'm in that cage, something bad could happen to me. So I'm trying to make sure that I make something bad happen to my opponent."
Most recently, he unleashed a flying knee against Dong Hyun (Stun Gun) Kim, taking out the durable South Korean. And he nailed Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy with a left hook to the chin.
Hardy admitted he underestimated Condit's striking. The English fighter paid the price by being at the wrong end of a highlight-reel knockout.
St-Pierre, for one, won't make the same mistake.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Condit knocks Diaz out."
© The Canadian Press, 2012