After some recent struggles at lightweight, Michael Chiesa will be moving up to compete in the UFC’s welterweight division. Chiesa is a former winner of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) at 155 pounds. However, after suffering back-to-back losses to the likes of Kevin Lee and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, Chiesa will be giving 170 pounds a go. In his last outing against Pettis, Chiesa came in overweight at 157.5 pounds.
Now, he’ll get the opportunity to fight closer to his natural weight at 170. Chiesa will be making his debut in the division against former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit. Condit, however, has had a rough string of fights recently. He hasn’t won a fight inside the Octagon since May of 2015 when he stopped Thiago Alves. Since then, Condit has lost four-straight fights, being finished in two.
Chiesa will meet Condit next week (Sat. December 29, 2018) at the UFC 232 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Speaking to “Submission Radio” about the match-up recently, Chiesa said he’s preparing for the “WEC” version of Carlos Condit:
“I’m preparing for WEC Carlos Condit. I’m preparing for Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy Carlos Condit. That’s the Carlos Condit I’m preparing for. And I don’t look at him… he is a legend of the sport, but I don’t look at him like that because I just don’t think… this is a sport where people are quick to be written off, you know what I mean?
“A guy can be on a four-fight win-streak, get his butt kicked one time and everybody’s writing him off. But four fights before, that guy was a hero. So, I’m not looking at Carlos like that. That’d be a huge mistake. I mean, this guy is from a great camp, he’s very well coached, I have a lot of respect for that team. You know, the guy trains side by side with Jon Jones.
“That’s a pretty good training partner right there. So, I’m expecting the best Carlos Condit. And I don’t think this is the toughest match-up for me, but it is a tough match-up. I mean, Carlos is a gamer, so I gotta be sharp, I gotta be on my A-game that night. And I think I’m giving myself the best opportunity to win a fight like this by going up a weight class.
“At 155 it’s hard to rebound from that weight cut. You gotta just go out and just kind of – Anthony Smith said it best, you’re kind of in a fog, so you just go, put the gas pedal to the floor and go for the best.
“Whereas with this fight, I feel like I can be a little more cerebral, I feel like I can make a lot better choices and I feel like I bring my best game to the table. I think I can make this a pretty good win for me.”
What do you think about Chiesa saying he’s preparing for the “WEC” version of Condit?
