Junior dos Santos vs Shane Carwin: Potential Fight of the Year?
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron says yes:
UFC fans got terrible news last week when it was learned that Brock Lesnar would be replaced by Shane Carwin after dropping out of his scheduled UFC 131 fight with Junior dos Santos due to another bout with diverticulitis.
While Lesnar dropping out of the fight will certainly hurt the buyrate bottom line for the UFC, one could make the case that the main event of UFC 131 is actually better now.
I know what you’re thinking—Shane Carwin lost to Brock Lesnar in his last fight, so how could Carwin vs. Dos Santos be better than Lesnar vs. Dos Santos? But remember, it’s not necessarily the rankings of the fighters that matter. As they always say, “styles make fights.”
At UFC 131, it will have been almost a year since the last time we saw Carwin step into a UFC cage. 12-0 at the time with all 12 wins coming by way of knockout or submission, Carwin was already the UFC interim heavyweight champion and looked to be on a warpath toward the official UFC heavyweight championship.
Must Read: 10 Burning Questions Heading into UFC 131
But it was Lesnar, who was coming off of his first bout with diverticulitis, who stopped the Colorado native’s undefeated streak in its tracks.
Now a year older and a year wiser, Carwin was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 before the opportunity to fight Dos Santos arose. Though no fights in MMA are a slam-dunk, this certainly looked like an attempt to get Carwin back in the win column against a 35-year-old fighter with questionable standup skills.
Now lined up to face a fighter who mirrors his 12-1 career record, Carwin will need to significantly change his training regiment as he prepares for the event. Jon Olav Einemo is an absolute wizard on the ground while Junior dos Santos has spent about as little time on the ground in his MMA career as has anyone in the sport.