Morning Report: Carlos Condit lays out plans for 2015 return

Seven months after tearing his ACL and meniscus fighting Tyron Woodley at UFC 171, former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit is seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

"I've basically been cleared to start doing some sparring and training as long as it is light," Condit told Bleacher Report. "I have to be cautious of anything explosive movement-wise or doing anything too quickly. I can run, hit mitts and do plenty of other things. I just can't go 100 percent on anything yet."

Woodley managed to injure Condit's right knee while hitting a takedown in the second round of their co-main event bout. Once the fight hit the feet, a leg kick from Woodley ended Condit's night via TKO.

"I can do jiu-jitsu from the ground but I have to be careful with explosive takedowns and things like that. All of my training partners have been great and know I'm not 100 percent right now, so they've been able to get their work in without putting my knee in danger.

"Right now, I'm looking at getting back into the cage in March or April. That's the plan and I'm working hard to make that happen."

Even lacking the presence of one of the sport's biggest stars in former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, the UFC's welterweight division is a log jam of likely contenders.

Welterweight champion Johny Hendricks makes his first title defense to Robbie Lawler Dec. 6 at UFC 181. St-Pierre's protege Rory MacDonald has been promised the next crack. Matt Brown, Hector Lombard and the aforementioned Woodley are all very much in the title picture.

"There are a lot of intriguing matchups for me out there when I get back, but right now, I'm not really focused on those things," said Condit. "My attention is on what I have to do today to get healthy and I can't afford to take my focus off of that. There are a lot of small steps to take between now and my next fight and my focus is right where it needs to be."

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Problems at 185. Georges St-Pierre believes Nick Diaz made a mistake accepting a fight with Anderson Silva at middleweight.

'Conor McGregor is going to be his own downfall.' Diego Sanchez isn't impressed with the featherweight's meteoric raise. 'I'm one of the guys who laid the bricks for this great career that he's having.'

Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas discusses UFC 179 results, Conor McGregor's role, Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold and more in this week's live chat.

Is normal? Anderson Silva will coach opposite Shogun Rua on TUF: Brazil 4, but they won't fight each other at the end of the season.

Wild West. In light of Invicta's Michelle Waterson recently fighting a 47-year-old, Satoko Shinashi fighting a 15-year-old and Gabi Garcia making her light heavyweight MMA debut against a bantamweight, Jack Slack asks why promotions aren't doing a better job booking legitimate fights for females.

MEDIA STEW

Anderson Silva with a quick message for Georges St-Pierre.

Free Fight: Luke Rockhold vs Tim Boetsch.

Inside the Octagon.

Viewer submissions from Inside MMA.

Michael Chandler talks Eddie Alvarez' loss to Donald Cerrone.

Highlights from Aisling Daly vs. Angela Magana on TUF 20.

Long watches.

Chael Sonnen's podcast - Georges St-Pierre

...

MMA 3 Way: The Greatness of Aldo vs. Mendes & why no Conor McGregor title shot?

TWEETS

Dates.

Para quem ainda não sabe: luta confirmada para 28 de fevereiro, em Los Angeles. Contrato assinado! pic.twitter.com/Ci4dyIUDuz

— Vitor Belfort (@vitorbelfort) October 29, 2014

Our new head of PR vitorbelfort announcement today. Weidman vs Belfort/ Ronda vs Cat 2/28/2015... http://t.co/K1lLsj2rYn

— Dana White (@danawhite) October 29, 2014

I've been waiting for this one. Can't wait to go to battle February 28th in LA. #UFC184 http://t.co/WVL4xAPyVs

— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) October 30, 2014

IT'S OFFICIAL!!! #TeamFury vs Cowboy Cerrone Co-Main event of #UFC182 January 3rd - Vegas #JuryJiuJitsu - @JuryJJ pic.twitter.com/SSeIzuU5GN

— Myles Jury (@FuryJury) October 29, 2014

Big fight for OSP.

Jimmy Manuwa broke his foot for his Nov 8th fight with Shogun. So now Ovince St Preux will fight... http://t.co/dIZCmantuH

— Dana White (@danawhite) October 29, 2014

Blessings happens in mysterious ways...Thank You Lord... When preparation meets opportunity, that equals SUCCESS...

— Ovince St. Preux (@003_OSP) October 29, 2014

Wrapped up.

Great last day sparring. Off to Aus tomorrow RT @AKA_HQ: Training camp is #DONE for @LukeRockhold #TeamAKA #number1 pic.twitter.com/3RNQD1A6MH

— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) October 29, 2014

Get well soon.

With Dr Gelb after surgery. And surgery went great, @ least what he sad :))) pic.twitter.com/X1mrI2xuvK

— Andrei Arlovski (@AndreiArlovski) October 29, 2014

Я ниче не понял, но доктор сказал что восстановление мое колена идет быстрее чем у обычног... http://t.co/8eWpBqJdK3 pic.twitter.com/gOOCcwwkVJ

— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) October 29, 2014

Plates getting removed from my face in 1 hour!!

— Eddie Wineland (@EddieWineland) October 29, 2014

FYI.

NEXT WEEK ME AND @alexchambersmma THROW DOWN! @ufc @grudgemma http://t.co/vBNJt5VrJg pic.twitter.com/i9w1cu9DIJ

— Rose Namajunas (@rosenamajunas) October 30, 2014

Very cool.

Missed my flight! Gonna be back late. I got caught up talking to a homeless man at the gas station last night. Spent a long time with him

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) October 29, 2014

Bought him a dozen doughnuts a coffee and a power aid. Talked for like 2 hours. The realest convo you ever heard. Just talking about life.

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) October 29, 2014

It's a beautiful thing we take for granted. Don't let it pass you by. It stops for no man. Respect yourself and others. It's all we got

— The Diamond (@DustinPoirier) October 29, 2014

Beefin'.

@DiegoSanchezUFC @HassleMma @_dr_2013 @JoeLauzon iv learned from mistakes.. U obviously haven't.

— STORMIN NORMAN PARKE (@norman_parke) October 29, 2014

@norman_parke @Txevergonzalez @HassleMma @_dr_2013 @JoeLauzon doesn't matter @GamebredFighter is gonna stop you for sure.

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) October 30, 2014

@DiegoSanchezUFC I had to block Parke... Guy never stops calling out someone.

— Joe Lauzon (@JoeLauzon) October 30, 2014

That a camo gi?

@cowboycerrone came all the way to Oregon to hear my Podast. He could have just clicked on... http://t.co/FD9euzSyQa pic.twitter.com/Svtrdsij9o

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) October 30, 2014

Didn't answer.

@FrankieEdgar @ufc @rjrogers87 @virtustream How much can you bench?

— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) October 29, 2014

Day 2.

A NEW DAY. A NEW PLAN. WE WILL RESCUE HIM

— Jason Mayhem Miller (@mayhemmiller) October 29, 2014

i am gearing up for a rescue mission. I have the proper equipment, and i will attempt to do this through legal means, but THIS IS MY HOTDOG.

— Jason Mayhem Miller (@mayhemmiller) October 29, 2014

That explains no KenFlo on UFC Tonight.

The look I got when I asked "how's your breakfast". http://t.co/nBfJCVMUh7

— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) October 29, 2014

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Oct. 29 2014)

Donald Cerrone vs. Myles Jury at UFC 182

Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano moved from UFC 182 to UFC 184

Jimi Manuwa out, Mauricio Rua vs. Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux

Tim Boetsch vs. Thales Leites at UFC 183

Eddie Alvarez vs. Benson Henderson at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver

Diego Rivas vs. Rodolfo Rubio at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux

Jorge Masvidal vs. Norman Parke at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver

Uriah Hall vs. Costas Philippou at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via heavyfl0w.

MMA Rundown #5: Aldo's Back, McGregor's Here, And Siver's Effed

I stumble through name selection, Phil Davis, and the featherweight title picture. Check the link! And enjoy.

Joseph Waldorf and Chip Melendez (© Greg Savage & Jordan Breen) put on a fantastic fight. But before I get into all of that, here are a few other tidbits I took away from UFC 179.

Can we get some sort of petition going to find Gilbert Burns a more Brazilian sounding name?

Maybe it's the fault of my subconscious cultural expectations, but I hear "Gilbert Burns" and picture a guy in my head that looks like a young Ving Rhames. For some reason, I don't think this when I hear "John Lineker", even though that name sounds just as non-Brazilian. The fact that John Lineker has a non-Brazilian sounding name somehow fits with his other quirks. Gilbert Burns just confuses me. It's like finding out that Marcus Giles is white all over again. Can we call him Gilberto Burneiro?

...

Check out the rest of the post here.

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