UFC heavyweight Shane Carwin will not face Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter Finale on Dec. 15 due to a knee injury, according to promotion president Dana White (via Twitter):
WOW!! It never ends Carwin blew his knee out. Looking for a new opponent for Roy on the TUF Finale on FX.
— Dana White (@danawhite) November 14, 2012
The fight was set to be the headline of the card that’s airing live on FX from the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It’s the second time he has missed a bout against Nelson. In January of 2011, Carwin withdrew due to back and neck pain stemming from a November 2010 surgery.
This setback is the latest in a string of injuries that have hampered the very promising Carwin (12-2). He re- injured his back in training in 2011 and has been rehabbing from the ensuing surgery for over the past year.
His career hasn’t been all bad news and gloom, though, despite the slew of injuries.
In 2010, Carwin defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir to obtain the first-ever UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship. That was the last time the champion held his arms high after a round in the Octagon.
Carwin has not fought since losing a unanimous decision to current heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in June of 2011 prior to the back injury. It was his second consecutive loss in UFC competition.
The former champ will have to wait to get off this losing streak. Luckily for him it wasn’t an aggravation of the back and neck issues that have kept him sidelined for much of the past two years.
However, if “blown out” is as bad as Dana White made it sound, Carwin could be in store for another long rehab process that could leave him even more slowed than the series of back injuries made him.
You have to wonder how big of a toll these injuries will have on both the physical and mental ability of Carwin to continue on in the grueling UFC heavyweight division.
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