By Jack Houston
Mandalay Bay 2 p.m. doors, Feb. 4, $75-$750 plus tax and fee. 800.745.3000 Ticketmaster
As is often the case with Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts, an injury to a top fighter will give a pair of up-and-comers a chance to show their mettle when UFC 143 convenes at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Feb. 4.
The roots of UFC 143 stretch back to UFC 137 in October when welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre was set to face Nick Diaz. When Diaz failed to attend a series of media appearances, he was replaced on the card by Carlos Condit, who was bumped up from a scheduled fight with BJ Penn. UFC President Dana White then offered Penn the chance to fight Diaz, which in turn became the main event once St. Pierre went down with a torn ACL.
With St. Pierre on the mend, Condit and Diaz, the two fighters who had at one time been scheduled to face him in UFC 137, meet up in UFC 143 with the interim welterweight title on the line. Condit (27-5, 13 KOs) hasn’t fought since July when he defeated Dong Hyun Kim by TKO, while Diaz (26-7, 13 KOs) bested Penn by unanimous decision in UFC 137. The winner will likely face St. Pierre later this year.
Expect the Condit-Diaz fight to garner more attention now that the UFC’s popular Primetime series has moved to the FX network. UFC Primetime: Diaz vs. Condit aired on Jan. 20, serving as a “primer” for the fighters’ February bout. Other matches to watch include a heavyweight tangle featuring Roy “Big Country” Nelson (16-6, 9 KOs) and Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1, 4 KOs) and a welterweight showdown between Josh Koscheck (16-5, 5 KOs) and Mike Pierce (13-4, 6 KOs).
