Get a behind the scenes look at Shane Carwin training for UFC 131 in the 1st episode of “Here We Go: Camp Carwin” posted on YOU TUBE by officialbudlight. In the video, Shane introduces his camp team and is shown training hard in prepara…
Get a behind the scenes look at Shane Carwin training for UFC 131 in the 1st episode of “Here We Go: Camp Carwin” posted on YOU TUBEby officialbudlight. In the video, Shane introduces his camp team and is shown training hard in preparation for his June 11th fight in Vancouver against Junior Dos Santos.
In “Here We Go”, the “silverback gorilla” as his camp likes to call him, gives the fan an insiders view of his training camp, as well as some insight into how he trains in the many aspects of mixed martial arts.
“I have great trainers and great partners, and you know just an all out great team I’m working with. They are helping me get better every day.” Carwin told officialbudlight.
“I try to find the best guys I can at their game, and I try to compete with them at that so when I go out there and fight, you know that the fight is actually the easier part of the whole game.”
Carwin has been forced, much to his delight, to alter and intensify his training now that he has replaced injured Brock Lesnar in the main event vs. Cigano at UFC 131.
Camp Carwin is overseen and run by Denver Grudge trainer Trevor Whitman, and he is the undisputed leader of Carwin’s preparation.
Of interesting note in Carwin’s training camp is that aside from his different skill coaches, like wrestling coach Leister Bowling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu coach Amal Easton, he has nutritionist Josh Ford in his camp whose meticulous meals have stripped thirty pounds off of Carwin’s body
That shift in diet and replacing fat weight with lean muscle will go a long way in improving his overall conditioning, and will reduce the chance of Shane gassing out like he did in his loss to Lesnar.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Correspondent for Bleacher Report. (Also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net.)
Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceThe five weeks from May 28 to July 2 are among the busiest calendar stretches that MMA has seen in years. During that time, nine major events will take place. There will be at least one championship on the line, a series of…
The five weeks from May 28 to July 2 are among the busiest calendar stretches that MMA has seen in years. During that time, nine major events will take place. There will be at least one championship on the line, a series of heavyweight fights will reshape the division’s hierarchy, new No. 1 contenders will emerge, and we’ll see the return of Gina Carano. Of course, there are always unexpected surprises that will pop up as well.
Given the enormity of that upcoming stretch, it’s bound to produce much speculation, so Mike Chiappetta and I put on our thinking caps and tried to predict the outcome to four of its most pressing questions.
Which fight are you most looking forward to during this stretch?
AH: There’s a ton of good ones to choose from, but I have to go with Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum on June 18. It’s amazing to think that by the time these two heavyweights meet in Dallas, it will be a week short of a year since Werdum submitted Fedor Emelianenko and 13 months since Overeem dominated Brett Rogers. Since then, we’ve been anxiously waiting for them to return to action, and I think Strikeforce did the right thing by matching them up in the first round of their heavyweight Grand Prix. Of course, Werdum beat Overeem in 2006, but I think it’s safe to say that both fighters have improved greatly (Overeem in particular) since that fight in PRIDE. This will also mark the first time Overeem fights a legit top-five heavyweight in years (perhaps ever?) so a lot of questions will hopefully be answered in a month.
MC: There are lots of great fights coming up during this stretch, including championship fights and others with title implications, but from a sheer entertainment perspective, I’m going with the Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago fight at UFC 130. Both men fight with aggressive styles, look for the finish, and with the added importance of this bout considering their respective places in the middleweight division, you can expect both to be at their best. Stann seems to have made the breakthrough leap into the elite, while Santiago wants to prove to UFC fans with long memories that he’s more what you’ve seen lately than what you saw back in 2006. Throw in a dash of Stann’s one-punch knockout power and a pinch of Santiago’s willingness to war, and you should have an instant classic.
Which fighter has the most to gain and which has the most to lose during this stretch?
AH: Again, there are many suitable answers to this question, but I think Dominick Cruz has the most to gain. Cruz has been fighting in the shadow of the UFC for the last couple of years, while dominating the WEC bantamweight division. He’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and at UFC 132, he’ll be looking to avenge the only loss of his career to his rival Urijah Faber. Not only will this fight mark the first UFC 135-pound title fight, but it will also mark the first time that two bantamweight fighters headline a UFC pay-per-view. A big win for Cruz could go a long towards getting the champion the attention he deserves.
As far as the one who has the most to lose, I’m going to pick Josh Barnett. “The Baby-Faced Assassin” hasn’t fought in the US since he beat Gilbert Yvel at Affliction 2 in January 2009. Since then, a mega-fight against Fedor Emelianenko was scrapped due to a positive steroid test, which forced Barnett to fight overseas. At the time the Emelianenko fight was supposed happen, Barnett was considered by many to be one of the three best heavyweights in the world. Today, many don’t have him in their top-10. So when the 33-year-old Barnett faces Brett Rogers on June 18, he will not just be fighting for the right to advance in Strikeforce heavyweight GP, he might also be fighting to keep his career relevant.
MC: Shane Carwin is the man with the most to gain. Think about how his circumstances have changed in just a couple of weeks. Before Brock Lesnar dropped out of UFC 131, Carwin was a fighter trying to rebound from a loss, and returning from a major injury, against a fighter, Jon Olav Einemo, that few fans were aware of. That’s the proverbial no-win situation. Suddenly, he’s thrust into a situation where he’s facing the heavyweight division’s No. 1 contender, and a win will vault him right into a title match. At 36 years old, a break like that must seem like a gift from the gods for Carwin.
I’ll be a bit more literal with the man who has the most to lose when I tell you it’s Tito Ortiz. Sure, Ortiz is nowhere near title contention, or even the top 10, but at UFC 132, he’s fighting for even bigger stakes: his job. The former UFC champ and promotional mainstay is fresh out of chances. Winless since Oct. 2006, it’s win or go home for the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” who still has one of the highest base salaries in the promotion, $250,000 per fight. That’s a lot of scratch, and he’s not likely to find a contract anywhere else in the world that will pay him in that range if he loses to Ryan Bader and is cut.
3) Which fighter is most likely to launch himself into the UFC title picture?
MC: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. We already know that two upcoming fights — TUF 13 Finale’s Anthony Pettis vs. Clay Guida, and UFC 131’s Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin — will have some sort of title implications, so none of those men eventually fighting for a belt would constitute a surprise. But Jackson is something of a wild card.
When he was standing in the octagon waiting for the judges’ decision against Lyoto Machida last November, he thought he had lost the fight, which would have resulted in a two-fight losing streak. The judges thought otherwise and he was awarded the decision victory. A win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130 would give him two straight, and four of his last five.
You might be asking why that should put him in the title picture. Champion Jon Jones, who is currently out with a hand injury, is expected to be ready to fight in late September or early October. The most likely opposition for him would come from August’s Rashad Evans-Phil Davis winner, but there is very little chance either man could be ready on such short notice. The UFC is not going to keep Jones on the sidelines if he’s ready to go, so who would get the title shot? Rampage, that’s who. He’s still a top five light-heavyweight, and if he beats Matt Hamill, he’ll probably punch his ticket to face Jones.
AH: I could go the easy route and pick the winner of dos Santos vs. Carwin, and Jackson is certainly a good choice too, but I’m going to go with Wanderlei Silva.
Silva is a huge fan favorite, and while injuries have forced him to only fight once in two years, a thrilling win over Chris Leben at UFC 132 would help generate a lot of momentum for him fight the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami. The UFC’s middleweight division could use a contender like Silva, and considering his past issues with “The Spider,” that would be an easy fight to promote. Of course, Silva’s age and injuries might stop him from ever seriously contending for a UFC title, but that’s more reason to give him that title shot sooner rather than later.
4) Is Urijah Faber‘s UFC 132 matchup against bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz his last chance to wear a major belt?
MC: Faber has been a big part of the title picture in the lower-weight divisions for years, but he lost his last two title matches in the featherweight division while in the WEC, and his bout with Cruz marks his third try to win a major belt in the last two years. If he loses again, it will be very difficult for the UFC to put Faber back into a title match anytime soon.
At 32 years old, Faber keeps himself in fantastic shape year-round, so I wouldn’t expect him to fade away in the near future, but it becomes difficult to promote title matches with athletes that keep losing in them. The public continually wants to see fresh challengers who are capable of pushing the champion. While Faber will continue to have a strong fan base, a third straight loss in title matches will cause many to believe he can’t get over the hump any longer. So chances are, this might be his first and last crack at UFC gold.
Faber still has some big-time performances ahead of him, but he’s going to need one of them against Cruz on July 2. If he loses, he will probably need to put together a lengthy winning streak and hope that Cruz holds on to the belt that entire time so the two can have a rubber match. That selling point may help dim any criticism about an 0-3 stretch in title bouts, but as we’ve seen in MMA, those types of parallel runs are quite unusual.
AH: It really all depends on how he looks. If he is dominated the way Jose Aldo dominated him last April, then this could very well be Faber’s last shot at a title. But considering the fact that the 135-pound division isn’t as deep as some of the other UFC divisions, I could conceivably see him going on a run to warrant another title shot even after a loss.
The thing to remember is that Faber is, by far, the biggest star in the lightweight divisions, and that probably includes the 155-pound division too. He’s on commercials with Kenny Powers and, along with a couple others, helped carry WEC for many years. I won’t argue with those who say he earned this title shot (and even the fight against Aldo) rather quickly off loses, but such is the life of a bantamweight or featherweight, but it MMA math aside, it just makes sense having him fight in this historic bout, just like it has always made sense for him to be fighting for the title in the past.
I would love to see a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. I don’t think Lesnar got lucky when he defeated Carwin, but in a way I do think he pulled a rabbit out of a hat. He survived a brutal first round beating that showed…
I would love to see a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. I don’t think Lesnar got lucky when he defeated Carwin, but in a way I do think he pulled a rabbit out of a hat. He survived a brutal first round beating that showed a less than stellar stand-up game, and recovered in between rounds to take advantage of Carwin’s lack of cardio, and sink in an arm triangle that nobody outside of Lesnar’s team saw coming.
Well played by Brock, no doubt, but if Carwin had to do it over again I’m willing to bet he’s learned his lesson about exhausting all your energy trying to finish an opponent, and would take greater care to prevent the submission. With all that in mind, Lesnar’s replacement by Carwin against Junior dos Santos next month at UFC 131 presents a more difficult task for the Brazilian fighter.
Dos Santos’ ability to beat Lesnar depended on his being able to stuff Brock’s takedowns, and utilizing far superior boxing to send Lesnar spiraling back down the heavyweight ladder. Given the history of both fighters, it certainly doesn’t seem like a stretch to say that. Dos Santos arguably has the best boxing in the heavyweight division, and has showcased his heavy hands en route to taking out five of the six opponents he’s faced in the UFC.
The sixth, Roy Nelson, somehow survived being dos Santos’ heavy bag for three rounds before losing a decision. Dos Santos’ only career loss came via arm bar in a Brazilian promotion before he came to the big leagues back in November of 2007. While I’m sure his ground game has improved since then, dos Santos has made no secret of his desire to stand and bang with anyone put in front of him, and thus far it’s worked to near perfection.
In Carwin, dos Santos must now deal with a fighter with equal if not more power resting in his hands. Additionally, as a former Division II wrestling champion, Shane Carwin surely isn’t uncomfortable going to the ground, though I’m not sure that dos Santos could say the same for himself. In short, dos Santos is now facing a more well rounded fighter in Carwin, and it’s setting up a better fight for the fans.
From purely the stand-up perspective in the head-to-head battle, the hand speed belongs to dos Santos, while the punching power belongs to Carwin. This arises not simply from the trail of destruction each one has left in the UFC, but how they’ve blazed those trails. Dos Santos burst on to the scene with an enormous upset of Fabricio Werdum, in which he used a devastating upper-cut to end the fight, and has since utilized sharp boxing to outpoint the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, and the aforementioned Roy Nelson.
With each fight, dos Santos has displayed his brilliant hand speed as his most trusted tool. Like a good boxer should, he’ll attack with a flurry of punches and jump back out of range of his opponents reach before he has a chance to counter. For a textbook example of this, go back and watch his fight against Stefan Struve at UFC 95. He hit Struve with seven shots before backing out, taking a quick break and pouncing back in with an overhand right that was the beginning of the end for Struve. This all occurred in a matter of four seconds. That kind of speed is an anomaly in MMA.
Carwin, meanwhile, has used the bricks he possess on the end of each arm to crush Christian Wellisch, Gonzaga, and Frank Mir to name a few. Even more impressive, each of those three fights displayed Carwin’s power in a different manner. In his UFC debut, Carwin threw a right cross that dropped Wellisch in the first round, sending his mouth guard flying across the Octagon. Against Gonzaga, Carwin fought threw an early broken nose, and was on his heels backing up when he threw a short jab that ended Gonzaga’s night.
The ability to throw that knock out punch while retreating is something few fighters can do, and something MMA fans haven’t really seen since the glory days of Chuck Liddell. Finally, against Mir, Carwin completely out-muscled him, pinning him against the cage and eventually using short, powerful dirty boxing that Mir was forced to crumble under.
It was only the fight against Wellisch that Carwin had the luxury of a full wind-up. In the other two examples, he made the best of a small window to throw the punches necessary to end the fight. Again, few fighters possess that kind of power. For Carwin it’s his most prized asset.
Both Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin possess phenomenal hands, and each has the skills to end a fight in the blink of an eye. While dos Santos unfortunately has a tougher opponent on the horizon than the one he was originally scheduled to face, the fans get treated to a fight with greater potential. Regardless of the outcome, the ringside doctors need to be sure they have the smelling salts handy. Someone might need to be woken up.
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron: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 diverticuliti…
Bleacher Report’s Nick Caron:
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.
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.
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:After suffering an injury during training camp, UFC lightweight Mac Danzig has been forced to withdraw from his bout against former WEC star, Donald Cerrone at UFC 131. The news became official earlier this week, courte…
Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:
After suffering an injury during training camp, UFC lightweight Mac Danzig has been forced to withdraw from his bout against former WEC star, Donald Cerrone at UFC 131. The news became official earlier this week, courtesy of MMAJunkie.com.
As a result, UFC newcomer Vagner Rocha will replace Danzig.
The Brazilian has fought professionally since 2009, competing under multiple organizations such as Bellator Fighting Championship and Strikeforce. Holding a professional record of 6-1-0, Rocha is still relatively young in his mixed martial arts career, but he will certainly want to prove he is a competitor when he is slated to make his Octagon debut in June.
Cerrone, a former lightweight contender in the WEC, will look to continue his winning streak in the UFC. In his debut at UFC 126, Cerrone picked up a victory over Paul Kelly via rear naked choke, in addition to receiving “Submission of the Night” honours. Cerrone was one of the top lightweight contenders in the WEC and he will look to make a similar impression in the UFC lightweight division.
This is one of the few changes the UFC 131 card has had to endure, so far.
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 t…
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.
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.
That said, Dos Santos poses a significantly bigger challenge in the standup game, as he may possess some of the best technical MMA boxing skills of any heavyweight. Dos Santos has won eight of his 12 fights by way of knockout, including memorable highlight-reel knockouts against Stefan Struve, Fabricio Werdum, Gilbert Yvel and Gabriel Gonzaga.
A member of the Black House MMA team, Junior dos Santos works regularly with the likes of Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Lyoto Machida, along with a host of other top talents in the world; many of whom are among the very best strikers in their divisions. Dos Santos is no exception.
Months ago, I would’ve laughed at anyone who suggested that training with Steven Seagal at Black House would be an advantage for Dos Santos, but two crazy front kicks to the face from Silva and Machida later, and I’d now be eating my words. It still seems crazy on the surface, but there may actually be some legitimacy to the hype.
Regardless, the UFC 131 main event will feature two big-time strikers who have the ability to knockout anyone in the sport, which could very well lead to a standup war the likes of which is rarely seen in MMA, with two fighters who may never even look to bring the fight to the ground.
While the jiu-jitsu fan in me wants to shake my fist at this kind of technique, I know that the overwhelming majority of fans are looking for the big knockout to tell their friends about the next day. They may cheer a beautiful transition on the ground or a nice submission, but those things are rarely remembered when fans talk about the “best fights ever.”
I’m always reminded of the standup war at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale, when Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin fought in an epic battle to determine who would be the victor and earn himself a UFC contract. While Griffin won the fight, many fans will always remember this war as one that helped get them more excited about the sport, or even expose them to the sport in the first place.
It wasn’t the most technical battle and it was fought on the feet practically the entire time, but this fight is one that is still talked about now over six years after it happened.
Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos is sure to be a more technical battle than that was, but it does have the potential to have the same type of impact for fans.
So don’t tune out just because Brock Lesnar’s name is no longer on the marquee. If Carwin has worked on his cardio enough to last the full three rounds without gassing like he did in the second round of his fight with Lesnar, we may actually be looking at a potential Fight of the Year candidate in the main event at UFC 131.
Get a behind the scenes look at Shane Carwin training for UFC 131 in the 1st episode of “Here We Go: Camp Carwin” posted on YOU TUBE by officialbudlight. In the video, Shane introduces his camp team and is shown training hard in preparation for his June 11th fight in Vancouver against Junior Dos Santos.
The five weeks from May 28 to July 2 are among the busiest calendar stretches that MMA has seen in years. During that time, nine major events will take place. There will be at least one championship on the line, a series of heavyweight fights will reshape the division’s hierarchy, new No. 1 contenders will emerge, and we’ll see the return of Gina Carano. Of course, there are always unexpected surprises that will pop up as well.
After suffering an injury during training camp, UFC lightweight Mac Danzig has been forced to withdraw from his bout against former WEC star, Donald Cerrone at