Why Carlos Condit calls ACL tear 'lucky' and how injury changed his approach

The phrase "torn anterior cruciate ligament" is one of the most dreaded an elite athlete can hear. Many elite careers have been stopped dead in their tracks by a simple misstep, as the body goes one way while the knee goes the other.

But Carlos Condit (29-8) is looking at his major knee injury, which was suffered on a simple takedown, as something of a blessing in disguise.

As one of the sport's most popular fighters gets set to return to the cage on Saturday, the 31-year-old Albuquerque native says that he took a philosophical approach to an injury which has stopped the careers of some of the world's greatest athletes.

"In a weird way I was kind of lucky, because it was a dozen years into my career that this happened," Condit said. "It could have happened a long time ago and really set me back. At least I've accomplished quite a bit in the sport before this happened and things like these are inevitable in a sport like MMA."

The fighter nicknamed "The Natural Born Killer" returns to action on Saturday night, when he headlines a FOX Sports 1-televised UFC Fight Night card in Goiania, Brazil, against Thiago Alves (21-9).

Condit injured himself last year at UFC 171, when a fluke shift of the leg as he attempted to defend a takedown quickly turned into a loss to Tyron Woodley.

Armed with the knowledge that it can all end that fast, Condit is grateful that he progressed as far as he has in this sport before suffering a major injury. And that it occurred while he was still young enough for his career to have a second act.

"Things are going to happen in this sport," Condit said. "You get banged up and bruised on the regular. So the way I see it, the fact I got as far as I did before this happened, and that it happened at the point of my career that it did, I mean, you know, you obviously don't want this to happen, but there were far worse times it could have happened."

The welterweight division underwent a dramatic shift in Condit's absence. In the wake of former longtime champion Georges St-Pierre's extended sabbatical, Johny Hendricks defeated Robbie Lawler for the vacant title on the same UFC 171 card at which Condit was injured. Lawler took a rematch via split decision at UFC 181. Lawler, in turn, will defend his title at UFC 189 against Rory MacDonald, a fighter Condit has defeated.

The way Condit sees it, simply having to sit back and watch the divisional shift was as painful, if not more so, than going through the process of knee surgery and rehab.

"Any time I watch fights I get anxious and I get inspired," Condit said. "I wouldn't quite say anxious. Not being able to do anything, I just kinda had to step back and watch as a spectator, especially in my division. I couldn't have too much emotional involvement in what was going on, or I would go crazy."

That's all well and good, but will we see the Carlos Condit of old, the go-for-broke competitor who treated fans to thrilling battles from his 2008 WEC brawl against Hiromitsu Miura, to his comeback UFC wins over the likes of MacDonald and Kampmann? Even in defeat, like in back-to-back decision losses against St-Pierre and Hendricks in 2012-13, Condit earned respect for going toe-to-toe until the final horn.

Will the post-surgery Condit look like the vintage Condit?

"You've got ring rust to think about, but on the plus side, I think that I've definitely made some improvements and worked on some things while I was away from things," Condit said. "When I knew I was ready, I never gave it a second thought."

And besides, Condit's opponent, Alves, is another veteran fighter with a reputation for exciting fights and he also missed time due to injury. So Condit, for one, believes he has the right foe to bring out the thrilling combatant fans remember.

"I think my endurance and my conditioning is a weapon and I get stronger as the fight goes on," Condit told MMAFighting.com. "Even though we're strikers, we're both well-rounded MMA fighters. I think this fight is probably going to be all over the place. We're going to show all different aspects of MMA. You know, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and striking. I think neither of us is looking for decisions. We're both going in to finish the fight. It's going to be exciting."

Follow Dave Doyle on Twitter: @DaveDoyleMMA