Former UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit returns to the Octagon on December 30 when he meets Neil Magny at UFC 219. It will be ‘The Natural Born Killer’s first Octagon outing for over a year.

Condit recently took the time to answer the questions of Fighters Only contributor Tony Reid. Here’s what he had to say…

Q: What is the one thing nobody knows about you?

CC: The thing nobody knows about me is that I can cook really, really damn good. I love cooking and I am really good at it.

Q: What advice would you offer a younger you?

CC: The advice I would give a younger me would be this: wear your damn headgear when you spar, Carlos!

Q: What memories do you have of your first fight?

CC: My very first MMA fight… the fights were promoted in Juarez, Mexico, and were sponsored by this local restaurant. They had really damn good fajitas. That’s about it. The fight lasted about a minute, so there isn’t much to talk about there.

Q: What has been the best moment in your career so far?

CC: Other than the fajitas? Maybe getting the UFC belt strapped around my waist. It was surreal. I started this sport as more of a hobby. As I have come along in the sport the sport has grown into something I don’t think anyone could have imagined it would become. To be part of that, to reach the top level of the sport, was just amazing. That moment, it was like being in a freaking dream.

Q: What is the best thing about MMA compared to other sports?

CC: I really think that it (MMA) taps into the rawest, most primal emotions of not only the competitors in the arena but the spectators and everybody involved as well. That’s what makes it so special and so unique.

Q: Who is the best opponent you have faced so far in your career?

CC: My best opponent would probably be GSP, man. That dude is so damn slick, so damn fast and so damn good at what he does. My best opponent would have to be Georges St-Pierre.

Q: What job(s) did you have before becoming a fighter?

CC: I was a bouncer at a bunch of different places but one was this small concert venue in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was small but there were always big, big acts coming through all the time, so it was fun. I started working there when I was 17 and was still in high school. It was a cool job. It was my favourite job.

Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure?

CC: Do you want me to completely out myself? I love the movie Pitch Perfect. Do I get my ‘man card’ revoked now? People will get a good laugh out of that.

Q: If you could invite three people to dinner, past or present, who would you invite?

CC: Genghis Khan, Tyler Durden and maybe Teddy Roosevelt. Genghis Khan was probably the most successful general and leader in history. I love studying him. He is super interesting. He’s a wrestler, too, so that’s cool. Tyler Durden is the man, plain and simple. I like Chuck Palahniuk books and Durden is the quintessential character. Teddy Roosevelt, when you had a president who was an actual solider, when you had leaders that went into battle, not just from a pulpit but from horseback… that is an intriguing time and an intriguing man.

Q: What is the best lesson life has handed you?

CC: It is that you can do what you can do in a lot of situations but there are a lot of things that are ultimately out of your control. What taught me that the most is my kid, man. He is a great kid. He behaves for almost everybody but loves to give me a hard time. We are a lot alike. He is super, super stubborn. I try to get him to do things and it’s nearly impossible. Sometimes I have to realize I want him to do what I want him to do but he has his own ideas. I have to find my way around and figure out other avenues to get what I want accomplished.