Still fresh off of his split-decision victory over Jake Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night 19, Carlos Condit recently confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that he has made the move back to Albuquerque, N.M., and is the newest addition to the world-famous team at Greg Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts.
Condit, who began his fighting career in Albuquerque, moved to Arizona in 2008 to join forces with Arizona Combat Sports and train with the likes of C.B. Dollaway and Jamie Varner.
But the former WEC champ said he was forced to move back to New Mexico this past week for personal reasons.
"I had some family stuff going on back in Albuquerque, and the move back home was the best thing for me and my family right now," Condit said.
Condit says that he is taking a lot away from his experience in Arizona and still sees potential in making visits back to Tempe, Ariz., to train.
"I learned a lot while training at Arizona Combat Sports," Condit said. "I feel that my wrestling definitely improved out there. There were a lot of great guys to train with, and it helped me step up my game.
"But as I said before, my personal circumstances have changed, and I needed to come back home to Albuquerque. It's just lucky for me that one of the best camps in the world is out here."
The addition of Condit to the Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts team lineup brings another potential title contender to Albuquerque, but it also adds to the potential problem of an intra-camp match up for UFC gold.
Light heavyweight contenders Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans, who also both train at Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts and have both been in line for the UFC's 205-pound title in recent months (Evans actually holding the title earlier this year), made headlines when they stated that they would not fight each other for the belt. The same problem may now occur in the New Mexico camp for the UFC's welterweight title.
Condit, after his razor-thin victory over Ellenberger, now finds himself just a few wins away from possibly becoming a contender for the UFC welterweight belt, which is currently held by Georges St. Pierre, another Team Jackson fighter.
However, Condit admits no cause for concern.
"I would have a long way to go in the UFC before I fought Georges, so I have to focus and make the best of the present time," Condit said. "I can't worry too much about what may happen in the future."
Also presenting potential controversy over Condit's decision to join the team is the rumored feud between Condit and WEC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone, who is also a part of the elite list of Greg Jackson fighters.
The rumors of a potential feud began after Condit's move to Arizona when Cerrone openly discussed his frustration over Condit – who Cerrone had spent time training with in Albuquerque – joined Arizona Combat Sports and began training with Jamie Varner just before "Cowboy" was set to face off against Varner for the WEC lightweight title.
"I think [Cerrone] didn't like the fact that I was at Arizona Combat Sports and his upcoming opponent, Jamie Varner, was there too," Condit said. "But I had made the decision to leave before they were scheduled to fight, so it wasn't like I was bailing out to go help Varner train for that fight, which is how I think he took it.
"As far as I know, and as far as I'm concerned, it's water under the bridge."
Condit contends that his main focus right now is getting back in the gym and taking advantage of all that Jackson's camp has to offer.
"I want to get back to being a very strategic fighter and stick to my game plans more," Condit said. "I know that Greg comes up with really good gameplans, so I want to take advantage of that.
"There is great stand-up training here, great jiu-jitsu training here. They just have everything I need to grow as a fighter. I expect to improve in all aspects of my game."
