Carlos Condit admittedly wept with joy when he heard the news that he would fight welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in the UFC 137 main event. After learning today that "Rush" sustained a knee injury in training and was scratched from their fight on Oct. 29, 2011, he was likely reduced to tears once again.
Well, that's likely an exaggeration, considering "The Natural Born Killer" is still the next in line to attempt to dethrone the 170-pound deity. However, the former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champion will just have to wait a little longer for the opportunity.
Shortly after we learned that St. Pierre would be sidelined for four to six weeks, and the he would not return to the Octagon until the first quarter of 2012, Condit issued a statement on the situation, saying that "this is the best training camp I have ever had," but is willing to work "a little longer" to "become the UFC welterweight champion."
Read Condit's complete statement on his postponed fight with St. Pierre after the jump:
"I am greatly disappointed, for both myself and UFC fans, that I will no longer be fighting for the Welterweight title at UFC 137, but I also understand that injuries are a part of this business. As a professional fighter, it is my job to be prepared for any and all circumstances, positive and negative, that come my way during training and the actual fight. Georges is a great competitor and I know that he will want to return to 100 percent health as soon as possible so that this fight can be rescheduled. This is the best training camp I have ever had, and I look forward to carrying over the growth that I've experienced in this camp to my next one. I have trained for over a decade in mixed martial arts with the clear goal of becoming the best fighter in the world at my weight class. I have worked this long to become the UFC Welterweight Champion. I will work a little longer."
Remember, Condit was not St. Pierre's original opponent -- he was originally booked to battle former champion, B.J. Penn. However, Nick Diaz -- the incoming reigning Strikeforce champion -- failed to appear for several mandatory promotional appearances and UFC president Dana White switched slots.
Ironically, Diaz is now headlining the event once again opposite "The Prodigy" with this latest news.
That doesn't mean Condit didn't deserve the opportunity, however. He has won four consecutive fights inside the Octagon, finishing his three most recent opponents in impressive fashion. In his promotional debut, he suffered his only setback, a split decision loss to Martin Kampmann at UFC Fight Night 18 back in April 2009.
Condit will now just have to wait a little bit longer to prove that he earned his shot and it didn't just fall into his lap.
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