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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Condit wins bout

Earns title shot with champion St-Pierre

LAS VEGAS – Carlos Condit earned the interim welterweight title and a match with champion Georges St-Pierre with a unanimous decision victory over Nate Diaz at UFC 143 Saturday night.

In the other co-main event, Fabricio Werdum earned a unanimous decision victory over Roy Nelson in his return to the UFC. Werdum, regarded as one of the best heavyweight jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, dominated Nelson in a fight that was largely a stand-up battle.

Werdum landed powerful knees from the muay thai clinch in the first round, cutting Nelson across the bridge of the nose which bled throughout all three rounds and controlled the fight with a balanced mix of knees, kicks and punches.

Diaz pressed forward in the second round and appeared to get the better of the punches. But Condit landed leg kicks throughout the fight, and eventually was able to land effective counter strikes, giving him the win on all three scorecards, 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46.

In other main cards bouts, Josh Koscheck got a split-decision victory over Mike Pierce, Renan Barao earned a unanimous decision victory over Scott Jorgensen and Ed Herman secured a rear-naked choke forcing Clifford Stark to tap out in the second round.

In the preliminary fights, Dustin Poirier, Edwin Figueroa, Matt Brown, Matthew Riddle, Rafael Natal and Stephen Thompson each earned victories.