Coach envisions Carlos Condit making summer UFC return, preferably against Matt Brown

Despite teasing possible retirement in the past, Carlos Condit isn’t ready to call it a career just yet. In fact, his striking coach, Brandon Gibson, says “The Natural Born Killer” could make his return to action as early as this summer.

“Carlos is doing well,” Gibson told MMA Junkie. “He’s recovering from his injury, he’s continuing his training, and I know he’s definitely looking forward to fighting in 2020.

“He’s ready to sign a bout agreement I’m sure, with a full training camp,” he continued. “I think he’s definitely been in talks to maybe fight later this summer. We’ll see what the plan is. There’s been no offers yet that I know of.”

It’s been a rough stretch for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight champion, dropping his last five bouts and going 3-10 since 2012. And while Condit has expressed long-term health concerns as the result of countless wars, the ex-World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champion is ready for another go.

And while no fights have been offered according to Gibson, a fan-friendly fight he’d like to see is one pitting his pupil against Matt Brown. The two men were set to face off at UFC on FOX 9 in 2013, as well as at UFC on FOX 29 in 2018, but both bouts were scratched after “The Immortal” came down with the injury bug. Still, Gibson hopes the third time is the charm.

“I think the Matt Brown fight is always an intriguing match up for Condit,” Gibson said. “They happened to be booked multiple times. I know Matt just fought this past week, but yeah, I think that would be a fan-favorite fight, and I think that would be a very good style match up for Carlos, as well.

“So I’d definitely be open to that one,” he continued. “But yeah, we’ll see what kind of match up offers we get from the UFC.”

Brown recently saw his two-fight win streak come to an end after Miguel Baeza knocked him out at UFC on ESPN 8 a few weeks ago (video here). Perhaps the allure of finally mixing it up against Condit will convince Brown to get back on the horse sooner, rather than later.

Condit was set to return last December at UFC on ESPN 7, but his fight against Mickey Gall was scrapped after “The Natural Born Killer” suffered a detached retina.