Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin is making his long-speculated return to combat sports on Saturday.
However, he’s not taking a traditional route.
He will compete in a one-armed boxing match against retired professional skateboarder Jason Ellis, who made the announcement in a video on his website (warning: NSFW language and content).
“I’m not really excited about doing it,” said Ellis (h/t BJPenn.com). “A lot of people have told me he’s the heaviest puncher. Brendan Schaub, who was a heavyweight in the UFC himself, who sparred with Shane Carwin, said that he is the heaviest puncher ever in the UFC out of anybody. [Out of] anybody in the UFC, he’s the hardest puncher, and he’s going to punch me.”
Carwin is best known for his three-year run in the UFC from 2008 to 2011. He cemented himself as the single hardest puncher in the sport by scoring first-round finishes in his first 12 fights, including his initial four in the UFC. He faced former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 111, knocking him out in the first round. He also lost to Brock Lesnar at UFC 116.
After coming up short against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 in June 2011, Carwin coached a team of young fighters opposite fellow heavyweight slugger Roy Nelson on the UFC’s reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. Unfortunately, he withdrew from the bout with Nelson due to injury and later retired in 2013.
In May 2016, shortly after news broke that Lesnar would return at UFC 200, Carwin teased a comeback before officially coming out of retirement in September.
For his part, Carwin has been talking pointed smack with Ellis:
The fight will take place at EllisMania 13 on Saturday in Las Vegas, which promises to feature a bunch of other oddities. MMA fans, however, will have to wait and see whether it leads to bigger things for Carwin.
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