Tag: Shane Carwin

Rizin FF Confirms Shane Carwin Signing, Debut Set For Open Weight Grand Prix

Former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin has officially signed a contract with the promotion that will be home to his MMA fighting return.

Carwin teased the announcement over the weekend that he had signed with the Japanese-based ups…

shane-carwin-rizin-ff

Former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin has officially signed a contract with the promotion that will be home to his MMA fighting return.

Carwin teased the announcement over the weekend that he had signed with the Japanese-based upstart MMA promotion Rizin Fighting Federation. On Thursday, the promotion led by Noboyuki Sakikibara, the same management figure who ran PRIDE FC in Japan for several years, made the news official.

The 41-year-old will make his MMA fighting return for the first time since his last fight, a UFC 131 loss to Junior Dos Santos in 2011, at the second round of ongoing Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix

At the official press event for the next round of the ongoing Rizin FF

“Japan is one of the most prestigious countries for not just the sport of MMA but martial arts, in general. The legends of the sport have fought in Japan and for [Rizin CEO and former Pride Fighting Championships head Nobuyuki] Sakakibara, and it is an absolute honor to be chosen for this event and to fight in an arena with so much history.

“I am excited to return to the sport of MMA, and I am also excited to be signing with Rizin. I’m ready to help take the company to the next level. I want people to remember me for my fights in Rizin, and for Rizin to be remembered as the promotion that overtook the UFC. After I win this Grand Prix, fans can be excited about the great future that is to come.”

Shane Carwin Signs With Rizin Fighting Federation

Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has signed with Rizin FF. Promotion officials announced the news at a press conference on Thursday morning. Carwin holds a 12-2 pro-MMA record and lost his last two MMA bouts. He retired from MMA in 2011 but is now back. Carwin was rumored to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but

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Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has signed with Rizin FF. Promotion officials announced the news at a press conference on Thursday morning. Carwin holds a 12-2 pro-MMA record and lost his last two MMA bouts. He retired from MMA in 2011 but is now back.

Carwin was rumored to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but that fight will not happen and instead, Carwin will be fighting in Rizin’s open-weight Grand Prix tournament. He will be the eighth man in the tournament. His opponent in the second round has yet to be determined. Carwin made the decision to return to MMA in September after months of hints prior to his announcement. Shane confirmed in September that he parted ways with the UFC following an after back-and-forth negotiations with its matchmaker, Joe Silva.

Carwin issued this statement on Reddit:

“I signed on the line which was dotted. I have been a long time friend of Pride. I used to watch late night Pride Fights with the US commentators like Bas and wish I was part of it. The only thing making me happy was the plate of Totinos next to me.

I had better offers from a money stand point. Bellator made the best offer. It just was nt oentirely clear that they wanted me as much as I wanted them to want me. I made an agreement to fight Fedor but he did not agree. I have been told by several matchmakers that that fight is a unicorn and they do not see Fedor taking it. Maybe I can just go help him train for the next one. Still a fan! He is still GOAT HWT to me.

I told Rizin no few times, and they stayed with me. Came to visit. Understood my values and what is important to me. Seemed to share the same values. I left the meeting wanting to be a part of Rizin. Feeling as if they wanted me.

So on December 29th it begins.”

Carwin is scheduled to fight at Rizin FF 3 on December 29th from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, which will feature the second round of the Grand Prix tournament. Rizin FF will also be hosting an event on New Year’s Eve as well, Rizin FF 4, which will feature the semifinals and finals of the tournament.

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Shane Carwin Joins Rizin, Fight Against Fedor Emelianenko Possible?

Shane Carwin made his name during the era of giants in the UFC heavyweight division. Competing against Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar at the peak of his career, ‘The Engineer’ won the interim belt at UFC 111. It wasn’t until he faced Lesnar at UFC that Carwin tasted defeat. Having previously won all his fights

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Shane Carwin made his name during the era of giants in the UFC heavyweight division. Competing against Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar at the peak of his career, ‘The Engineer’ won the interim belt at UFC 111. It wasn’t until he faced Lesnar at UFC that Carwin tasted defeat. Having previously won all his fights in the first round, Carwin would get submitted by the WWE crossover in the second frame. After that first loss Carwin would not compete for a year, and wasn’t the same fighter upon his return.

Facing a rampant Junior dos Santos in his last UFC fight, Carwin was bloodied and battered. ‘Cigano’ took the unanimous decision, and Carwin called it quits on his fighting career. Citing a nagging back injury, ‘The Engineer’ left his combat life behind him in 2011. Five years later Shane Carwin is back in the fight game, recently defeating Jason Ellis with one of his giant arms taped to his chest.

Carwin

Rizin/Fedor

Taking to his Twitter account, Shane Carwin announced his legitimate MMA comeback by telling Rizin they need to send him bigger gloves.

Former Pride FC owner Sakakibara has worked hard to bring some of the JMMA originals back home this year. Both Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva are currently on the roster, and will face each other in their trilogy bout this coming December. The announcement from Carwin opens the door to a possible fight with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Although the relationship between Fedor and Rizin got a little rocky when ‘The Last Emperor’ joined Euro Fight Nights, Rizin has reportedly offered Emelianenko $2 Million to fight on New Years Eve. Spreading around the Reddit forums is a rumour that Shane Carwin has already used his gigantic XXXXL hands to sign a contract for the Fedor fight. Watch this space!

Here’s Carwin pictured with Rizin Senior VP Jerry Millen:

#DreamBIG #ShaneCarwin

A photo posted by Shane Carwin (@shane.carwin) on

Here’s the video of a one-armed Shane Carwin knocking out Radio show host Jason Ellis last weekend!

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10 Real-Life Giant vs. Giant Fights In MMA

There have been numerous examples of ‘David vs. Goliath’ fights over the years, as we’ve discussed in previous articles, but the only way to really know for sure what these larger-than-life fighters are capable of is to match them up with someone their own size. That’s no easy task as there’s not exactly a whole

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There have been numerous examples of ‘David vs. Goliath’ fights over the years, as we’ve discussed in previous articles, but the only way to really know for sure what these larger-than-life fighters are capable of is to match them up with someone their own size.

That’s no easy task as there’s not exactly a whole lot of fighters out there that measure up to the kind of jaw-dropping physical dimensions that would result in a worthy, ‘Clash Of The Titans’.

Nevertheless, in this article we’ll delve deep into the sports history to revisit 10 real-life examples of living giants going head-to-head in the cage or ring, from 7′ 2″ wrestlers to 520-pound sumo stars, super-heavyweight boxers to former world’s strongest man champions, all competing under MMA rules.

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Former UFC Heavyweight Shane Carwin to Fight with 1 Hand Tied Behind Back

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 …

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.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

10 UFC Stars Who Had A Day Job

In most high-profile professional sports it’s unheard of to hold down a day job while competing at the highest level, but it’s more common than you might think in mixed martial arts. That’s not to suggest that MMA fighters don’t require as much time to prepare as other athletes though. Far from it in fact,

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In most high-profile professional sports it’s unheard of to hold down a day job while competing at the highest level, but it’s more common than you might think in mixed martial arts.

That’s not to suggest that MMA fighters don’t require as much time to prepare as other athletes though.

Far from it in fact, with mixed martial arts multi-faceted disciplines presenting a never-ending array of techniques to be learned, practiced and honed, while countless hours are invested in grueling conditioning workouts and sparring sessions to prepare fighters minds and bodies for one of the most demanding physical pursuits in all of sports.

However, compared to other leading sports, MMA is still the new kid on the block, and when many of today’s fighters took their first martial arts classes in their teens there was no guarantee that there would be able to make a career out of it.

Even today, with the sport having a stronger footing than at any time in it’s brief history, many of the UFC’s fighters still face challenges making ends meet and beyond a handful of major stars there’s not many who will be financially secure when they decide to hang up their gloves.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that some UFC fighters over the years have opted to retain a day job alongside their fighting careers, and in this article we’ll look at 10 who have done so successfully on the sports biggest stage.

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