UFC 131 Shane Carwin vs Junior dos Santos: Predictions for UFC 131
Bleacher Report’s Dale De Souza:
When Shane Carwin lost to then-UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar by second-round Arm Triangle at UFC 116 last July, the MMA world—quick to jump to discussions about dream fights for Carwin against the likes of Cain Velasquez and Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos—was on the verge of becoming accommodated with the Brock Lesnar era and started to question whether or not they would ever get to see Carwin in meaningful fights against Velasquez or Dos Santos for as long as they lived.
Fast forward almost a year later to now, when we as a proud MMA-addicted community are less than a week away from UFC 131, and what fight do we have to call “the main event of the evening” for this Saturday’s fight card?
Four months ago, the answer was a Heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, but on May 12, 2011, multiple Mixed Martial Arts news outlets were able to confirm that the now-former UFC Heavyweight Champion was not only out of the bout, and not only forced to have a full foot of his colon removed, but Shane Carwin has stepped in for Lesnar.
It’s the Heavyweight main event we thought we’d never see, and it’s our main event this Saturday, backed by the continuing “Gold Rush”, so to speak, of TUF 1 Middleweight runner-up Kenny Florian against the fast-rising, hard-hitting, well-rounded Muay Thai mutilation machine and Black House Featherweight prospect Diego “The Gun” Nunes, who comes in off of the heels of a big UFC 125 victory over former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown.
Also, Demian Maia walks into UFC 131 with only glaring defeats to Nate Marquardt and Anderson Silva on his otherwise blooming-bright professional record, and he looks to step in front of Silva once more, provided of two things, one of which is for him to soundly make rapid work of well-known Black House affiliate and Reign MMA standout Mark Munoz, who is looking to capitalize on the success he garnered against CB Dollaway at the most recent UFC Live event.
From top to bottom, the overall fight card is stacked with a little bit of something for every MMA fan’s insatiable appetite, but what’s going to happen this Saturday when UFC 131 is all said and done?
On behalf of myself, I present to you the answer to that daring question.
In my own poetic manner, I present to you 10 truths of what to expect to go down at UFC 131!
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 131, including the latest UFC 131 Results, Fight Card Analysis, UFC 131 News, and Live Reaction, from Vancouver.