Carlos Condit goes from WEC champ to UFC contender

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Carlos Condit had been World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion since 2007 when the organization owned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship opted earlier this year to close its 170-pound division.

‘So I’m the last champion,’ Condit said.

Wednesday night, he makes his UFC debut fighting welterweight Martin Kampmann (14-2) in the main event of Fight Night in Nashville, which will be televised at 8 p.m. (tape delayed) on SPIKE TV.

‘He’s got a good ground game and strong stand-up, a well-rounded guy, so it’ll be a war,’ Condit said.

Condit has shifted training camp from Albuquerque to Tempe, Ariz., and said the new regimen has improved skills that have resulted in four submission wins in his last five fights.

The WEC’s decision to scrap its welterweight division to add a lighter division and operate essentially as the UFC for smaller guys doesn’t mean the organization is any less intense, Condit said.

‘Obviously, the UFC has great fights, but everybody who steps into that WEC cage puts it all on the line too,’ Condit said. ‘The small guys are fast-paced. There are some very good fights there.’

— Lance Pugmire