Tag: Shane Carwin

UFC 131 Junior dos Santos vs Shane Carwin: Is JDS the next UFC Champion

Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:

At UFC 131, Junior dos Santos is set to face Shane Carwin in a heavyweight bout that will determine the No. 1 contender for the UFC heavyweight title.

Cain Velasquez awaits the two fighters and is a tough test for either one of them. At the age of 26, is Junior dos Santos destined to overtake Velasquez or eventually take over the UFC throne?

Dos Santos has come into the UFC and picked apart each fighter he has faced with his devastating striking ability, beating the likes of Roy Nelson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum.

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.

The brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, dos Santos has yet to showcase his ground game and it could be his one key weakness in his game. But who knows how good he really is on the ground? Yes, we haven’t seen it yet, but it could be great for all we know. It could also be very bad.

Dos Santos, though, has made it this far with his striking, and for a heavyweight, is a very athletic fighter. 

Eventually I see dos Santos as a champion, and he could be the best threat to Velasquez’s throne. If we knew what dos Santos’ ground game looked like, I could say how good of a chance he has. But, if the fight stays standing I think he has the ability to beat the likes of Velasquez.

Since we don’t know about his ground game, though, I think Velasquez could use his All-American wrestling to control dos Santos on the ground and win a decision victory, or get into full mount and ground-and-pound dos Santos.

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“Be prepared to see me with my hands raised. I’ll defeat Demian Maia,” was quoted in the VancouverSun.com. If Maia is going to fulfill his prophecy he is going to stay off the ground.

Maia was quoted in the above linked article: “Of course, I always prefer to take the fight to the ground. It’s safer for me, it’s my area. It’s the fight that I’d like to do so I always try taking guys down.”

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.

His confidence in his ground game is certainly not unfounded. Maia won the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Championship in 2007 with his strong and versatile grappling skills.

Maia is hoping a victory will give him a shot at the UFC middleweight title.

Muñoz, however, is no stranger to ground fighting:

I’ve got great guys I’ve been working with that I’m able to fit arm bars and triangles… so I’m seeing it all the time. I feel good about my ground game.

Munoz honed his ground game as a NCAA Division-I wrestler. You don’t get nicknamed “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” for nothing. 

—Richard Langford

UFC 131: Demian Maia and Mark Munoz Meet in a Middleweight Battle

Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges takes a look at Maia:

Since losing to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 112, Demian Maia has never looked better. 

The Brazilian, who is currently riding a two-fight win streak, will compete against Silva’s fellow teammate, Mark Munoz 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.

While speaking to TATAME.com, Maia opened up on his opponent and said he is training all aspects of the fight so that he is prepared for any situation during the bout. 

“With me, he’ll only have two options: or he’ll want to strike, or, in case he wants to take me down, he’ll use his ground and pound game, like he always does,” Maia said to TATAME.com.

“I have to train and be prepared for anything.”

Known primarily for his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, Maia has been working extensively on his weaknesses, such as wrestling and boxing. Evolving in others parts of his game has made Maiamore confident in his approach to his bout with Munoz, who is a national wrestling champion. 

Maia said he acknowledges his opponent’s wrestling credentials, which why he believes Munoz is a greater challenge than his previous opponents.

“I guess it’ll be bigger because he’s coming from two wins and he had did a pretty tough fight with (Yushin) Okami, and despite he lost, he still is one of the best.”

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UFC 131: Is Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin a better fight than Dos Santos vs Lesnar?

Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron takes a look:

UFC fans got terrible 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. 

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.

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.

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UFC 131 Junior dos Santos vs Shane Carwin: Will we finally see Dos Santos’ Ground Game?

Bleacher Report’s Dwight Wakabayashi:

It is no secret heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos packs a devastatingly powerful punch. He has risen rapidly in the UFC, and on his current streak, he has battered the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Dos Santos learns and trains his MMA striking under the tutelage of such established notables as Rodrigo Nogueira, Rogerio Nogueira and Anderson Silva, whose credentials on the feet are well-established.

Dos Santos is the main attraction in his fight with Shane Carwin at UFC 131 in Vancouver. When the original card was made, I was extremely interested in seeing the headline fight. Brock Lesnar would have tested all aspects of Cigano’s game. With him out and Carwin in though, the question remains, will we finally see Junior Dos Santos’ ground game?

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.

I doubt it, and I hope not.

I want to see Dos Santos and Carwin throw, and may the best chin win.

Lesnar would have tried to take Cigano down, and I believe he would have been successful. We would have also seen Junior have to fight off his back for the first time in a big fight—very intriguing.

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