By now, word of Brock Lesnar’s return bout with diverticulitis has surely reached any and all segments of the global population interested in receiving such news. And while it’s certainly reasonable for fans to lament his absence and wish for his retur…
By now, word of Brock Lesnar‘s return bout with diverticulitis has surely reached any and all segments of the global population interested in receiving such news. And while it’s certainly reasonable for fans to lament his absence and wish for his return to the Octagon, it is also a reasonable to push forward and look toward the new fight: Junior Dos Santos versus Shane Carwin.
Whether the new matchup is an upgrade over Lesnar-Dos Santos is obviously pure conjecture, the fact that it can even be a debate is encouraging. In examining the careers of these two heavy hitters, the fight seems almost too close to call. Here are five key questions that should help shape the discussion, not to mention the fight itself.
Filed under: UFCOn Tuesday’s media call, UFC heavyweights Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos made very clear what fans should expect to see when they meet in the Octagon on June 11, and it’s more or less what most people were already expecting.
On Tuesday’s media call, UFC heavyweights Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos made very clear what fans should expect to see when they meet in the Octagon on June 11, and it’s more or less what most people were already expecting.
“Let’s face it, both dos Santos and I got to where we’re at right now by knocking people out on our feet,” Carwin said. “I think we’re both explosive fighters and I think the fans are going to…have a real treat at UFC 131 when it gets to that main event, knowing both guys have knockout power in their hands.”
Dos Santos echoed the sentiment, adding that while he usually feels most comfortable in the stand-up game, he’ll have to be more wary of Carwin’s striking than he would have been of Brock Lesnar’s.
“Me and Shane Carwin are good standing fighters,” dos Santos said. “I believe so much in my boxing. My boxing bring me here until now, and I feel very comfortable fighting on my feet. So I will try to keep this fight standing, but I’m ready to fight wherever I need.”
Not that it should come as a surprise that these two heavyweights should continue to look for the KO in this number one contender fight, of course. Carwin and dos Santos sport identical 12-1 records, and both owe more than half their victories to knockouts.
But for both men, facing an opponent with dangerous striking skills is a significant change from the original plan. Dos Santos was initially slated to face Lesnar, who’s known much more for his wrestling than for his stand-up. But when he withdrew due to a recurring bout of diverticulitis, Carwin was pulled from his match-up with submissions specialist Jon Olav Einemo and shuttled into bout with dos Santos, where the stakes and the quality of competition were instantly higher.
“I don’t know if there are any warm-up fights in the UFC,” Carwin said of Einemo. “You’re fighting a top group of guys in the world who have competed to get to that level and Jon was no exception. He was basically a gold medalist in jiu-jitsu and training with one of the top striking teams in the world. He was a very tough opponent and just hasn’t run the same course that Junior dos Santos has run through the UFC, so either way I had to make sure that I was prepared to come in there and fight at my best.”
Dos Santos, who said his training camp didn’t change much as a result of the opponent switch, acknowledged that he will have to adopt a different approach on fight night now.
“The strategy now is going to be a little bit different, because with Brock I could use my boxing more [easily] for me with him. With [Carwin], now I have to be…a little more cautious.”
By the time they step into the cage, both men will have been out of action nearly a year, but for very different reasons. After his loss to Lesnar in a UFC heavyweight title fight last July, Carwin opted to have a neck surgery that kept him on the shelf for several months. Dos Santos decided to take a coaching spot opposite Lesnar on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ rather than wait for current champ Cain Velasquez to get healthy enough to defend his title.
Dos Santos last fight was a decision victory over Roy Nelson, but that was nearly ten months ago, which is “too much time without fights,” he said.
On the flip side, it’s probably a little easier to deal with the layoff when you’re coming off a win. For Carwin, the last fight on his record is still a bit of a bitter memory, though he said he tries to extract as many positives as he can from it.
“I learned a lot. I learned some things about picking my shots a little bit more when you get someone hurt or get them down. I learned that I had to try and do some things with my nutrition and my cardio – I don’t know if it was so much a cardio issue, but we’ll see,” said Carwin, who added that he’s slimmed down to the 250-pound range thanks to a “mostly organic” diet given to him by Grudge Training Center fighter and nutritionist Josh Ford.
As for the loss itself, Carwin seems to be doing his best to put it behind him.
“It’s part of life. I’m not going to dwell on it. There were plenty of positives, but the one thing I can say is that I left everything in the Octagon. I was barely able to walk out of there. I didn’t hold back; I put every ounce of energy I had into that fight. When I walked out that cage door, I knew that in my mind. So I was okay with myself, I just knew that I had things to work on.”
Against dos Santos, he confronts an opponent with the ability to test not only his staying power, but also his boxing skills and his chin. Both men seem well aware of the risks in this particular fight, even if they have slightly different opinions on who is favored more by a toe-to-toe striking battle.
“We’re knockout artists,” said Carwin. “That’s how Junior fights and that’s how I fight. I just believe in my power and my strength in boxing, and he believes in his. We’ll find out come June 11th.”
Brock Lesnar: Originally Scheduled to Fight on the Main Event of UFC 131 Undergoes SurgeryBleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:According to MMAJunkie.com, Brock Lesnar underwent successful surgery to repair his second bout with diverticulitis. It is expected…
Brock Lesnar: Originally Scheduled to Fight on the Main Event of UFC 131 Undergoes Surgery
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:
According to MMAJunkie.com, Brock Lesnar underwent successful surgery to repair his second bout with diverticulitis. It is expected for the former UFC heavyweight champion to make a return in early 2012.
UFC president Dana White said that Lesnar had 12 inches of his colon removed during the surgery, and will have to recover for the rest of the year. White said he expects Lesnar to make his return next year.
“He said he’s a little sore, but the operation was a huge success,” White said during the UFC 130 telecast.
White added that Lesnar visited the Mayo Clinic last Thursday to go over some options for his recovery.
“He’s going to make some decisions as to what he’s going to do, but he’s in a good place right now,”
Lesnar was originally scheduled to face Junior dos Santos in the main event at UFC 131, after their coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter, but was struck with the illness for a second time in his career.
Lesnar first contracted diverticulitis in 2009 during a hunting trip in Canada.
Lesnar made some changes to his diet and overall lifestyle in order to prevent from contracting the illness again, and returned to the UFC the following year.
UFC 130 is in the books and while many were disappointed in the performances in the two headlining bouts, the preliminary card fights allowed some of the lesser known UFC talent to steal the spotlight from the big names.Rick Story showed that his ca…
UFC 130 is in the books and while many were disappointed in the performances in the two headlining bouts, the preliminary card fights allowed some of the lesser known UFC talent to steal the spotlight from the big names.
Rick Story showed that his calling out Thiago Alves was far from a mistake as he took a unanimous decsion victory from the highly ranked welterweight, setting himself up to make a charge up that division’s rankings.
Travis Browne remained unbeaten, advancing his record to 11-0-1, with a highlight reel Superman punch to the chin of Stefan Struve, dropping the ‘Skyscraper’ to the mat in the first round.
Brian Stann scored his second inpressive TKO victory in as many fights, overpowering the former Sengoku champion, Jorge Santiago.
Tim Boetsch looked impressive in his first bout since dropping from light heavyweight to middleweight, using his wrestling skills to neutralize Kendall Grove.
Miguel Torres and Demetrious Johnson delivered in their bantamweight battle, with Johnson getting the nod over Torres in a fight that could have very easily been scored the other way.
The UFC’s next numbered event will be UFC 131, which will take place from Vancouver, British Columbia’s, Rogers Arena on June 11.
What follows are 10 burning questions heading into UFC 131, which will be headlined by a main event bout between Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin.
Frank Mir may not have finished Roy Nelson in their hometown bout at UFC 130; however, he did give one of his most well rounded and more dominant performances since his lackluster knockout finish of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 119.Mir’s grapp…
Frank Mir may not have finished Roy Nelson in their hometown bout at UFC 130; however, he did give one of his most well rounded and more dominant performances since his lackluster knockout finish of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 119.
Mir’s grappling and wrestling were too much for “Big Country,” whose steel jaw didn’t serve him as much good as a couple pounds off that belly of his would have. As for Mir, he’s beaten a heavyweight who is probably on the cusp of Top 10 status and is still a viable threat in the division.
Here are five reasons why he’s still a serious contender.
On Tuesday’s media call, UFC heavyweights Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos made very clear what fans should expect to see when they meet in the Octagon on June 11, and it’s more or less what most people were already expecting.