UFC 131 Fight Card Will Feature Shane Carwin’s Return To The Octagon, But What Kind Of Shape Is He In?
Shane Carwin was one of the most dangerous heavyweight fighters in the world. His career record is 12-1 with all 12 victories coming in the first-round – seven via (T)KO, five via submission – but he was exposed in his fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 116. He is a guy that has to end the fight early or he is in trouble.
Carwin’s strength as a fighter has come from his power with his punches. But if you saw his interview on the finale of The Ultimate Fighter last week, he looks like a completely different man. He looked really small and was nowhere near close to fighting shape.
He is coming off a very serious neck injury, known as spinal stenosis. For those WWE fans out there, that is the same problem that forced Stone Cold Steve Austin and Edge to retire. Now, Carwin is looking to fight against Junior dos Santos, one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world, seven months after the surgery.
Carwin doesn’t have a lot of hope entering this fight. If it goes longer than one round, he is in trouble. He has to end this fight early, if he is going to win. I don’t see how he is going to do it. There is no way his power is going to be all the way back. His stamina is not going to be better now than it was last July, when he gassed out late in the first-round.
There are just too many what ifs for Carwin coming into this fight. He may never be the same fighter again following this injury.
Maybe he can prove the doubters wrong. Maybe he can shock everyone and knock dos Santos out. It makes for a great story if he does, but the chances of it happening are slim-to-none.