Filed under: UFC
LAS VEGAS — Shane Carwin was so close. Maybe all he needed was one more punch, a few more seconds, or a different referee. Any one of the three might have resulted in a new champion being crowned.
He rocked Brock Lesnar, he put him on his back, he rained down strikes. They came in a wave, one after the other, 47 in all in a hellacious first-round beating that had ref Josh Rosenthal intently watching the action for a possible stoppage. We were all waiting for it, after all, that’s what Carwin does. He finishes, and he finishes quick. For Lesnar, it must have felt like a barrage. For Carwin, it must have felt like an eternity. He had the champion on the ropes, and he went for it.
It was not to be. In a match fitting of the championship belt contested, Carwin and Lesnar put on a classic display of grit, guts and determination at UFC 116 that stamped Lesnar as the sport’s best heavyweight. But Carwin should return home with no regrets about a performance that would have finished every heavyweight in the world except for one.