The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.Carwin, a former UFC interim …
The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.
Carwin, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion himself, was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131, but was informed by his manager that he would instead be bumped up to the main event.
The news actually came as a surprise to Carwin, who had no idea about the situation until his manager informed him.
“I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva,” Carwin said on his blog. “I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar’s spot for 131.”
The timing was actually convenient for Carwin, given that he was preparing for a fight and will just need to change the focus of his training. Dos Santos will need to do the same.
“Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title. I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain.”
Despite losing his last fight in the Octagon to Lesnar, Carwin gave his best wishes his former foe as he prepared to take his place.
“I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day.”
The string of top-level fighters needing to drop out of fights continues today. Bleacher Report learned on a UFC conference call that Brock Lesnar has officially pulled out of his scheduled UFC 131 bout against Junior dos Santos. He will be replaced by…
The string of top-level fighters needing to drop out of fights continues today. Bleacher Report learned on a UFC conference call that Brock Lesnar has officially pulled out of his scheduled UFC 131 bout against Junior dos Santos. He will be replaced by fellow top heavyweight contender, Shane Carwin.
After spending nearly a year outside of the Octagon, battling nearly to death with a disease known as diverticulitis, Lesnar returned to defend his UFC heavyweight championship against Shane Carwin before eventually dropping the belt to Cain Velasquez later in the year.
Unfortunately, the disease has been acting up again and has significantly impacted his training regimen, causing him to drop out of the fight.
“I want to thank the UFC, Mr. [Dana] White and I want to apologize to Junior dos Santos and to Spike TV. This is an unfortunate situation for me,” Lesnar started. “Diverticulitis is something that doesn’t go away. It’s something that’s in your colon for the rest of your life.”
“I was forced to make a decision to go back down to the doctor this week to determine how far along this thing is.”
Thankfully, the situation is not as dire as it was the first time he was dealing with it, but it is becoming increasingly likely that Lesnar will eventually need surgery.
“It’s not as serious as last time, it just didn’t allow me to train the way I needed to train for a number one contender’s bout,” Lesnar conceded. “I’m forced with the decision to either have surgery or deal with this for the rest of my life. A lot of things go through your mind as an athlete. This is something that has been wearing on me for about a month now.”
But true to what he has always said, Lesnar understands that fighting is only a small part of his life. His loved ones are what matters most.
“It wouldn’t be fair to myself, my family, or the people I give a performance in front of. I wouldn’t have been 100 percent on June 11. I’m not there now. My health is number one, my family is number one.”
Still, the former champion insists this is not the end.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not retiring. This is not the end of my career. I love this sport. This is not the end of Brock Lesnar…Far from it.”
He has not decided whether or not he will get surgery immediately or will attempt to fight it without going under the knife, as he did before. Brock, his family and doctors, are still awaiting test results to determine what the next course of action is.
“My diet has carried me this far. It was a miracle that I didn’t have to have the surgery. Everything was back to normal. But diverticulitis never disappears. It’s whether they become inflamed and infected. I felt the symptoms about three weeks ago and I got on the antibiotics and they didn’t do it, so I started a second course of antibiotics.”
Though he is not in the hospital at the moment, the battle with the disease has taken a serious physical toll on Lesnar as he prepared for his bout with Dos Santos.
“There were days when I had to miss a day just to rest for the next day, but when I got in, I just didn’t have the energy to be at the top of my game.”
“When you have a 12-week training camp and it’s condensed to six, it’s not a wise athletic decision. I just didn’t feel like I could do it.”
Dana White made sure to note that he understands, respects and agrees that Lesnar’s health is more important than fighting for the UFC. But with the company’s top draw being knocked out of the UFC 131 event, the replacement has already been named in the form of former interim champion, Shane Carwin.
Carwin was originally scheduled to fight UFC newcomer, Jon Olav Einemo on the same show, but will now get a shot to prove himself once again against one of the top fighters in the world.
No replacement for Carwin has been named yet, but Dana White did indicate that the company is working on it.
(Lesnar was emphatic that this would not be a career-ending malady.)
The UFC held an impromptu conference call today to announce that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has been force to pull out of his upcoming UFC 131 bout in Vancouver next month against Junior dos Santos due to a recent flare-up of diverticulitis that has left the North Dakota native physically unable to train for the bout.
An obviously disappointed Lesnar, who spent 14 hours at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN yesterday undergoing a battery of tests, explained that he tried to work through the exhaustion and the pain of the malady, but it was simply too much to deal with while preparing for such an important bout. Both Lesnar and UFC president Dana White echoed the same sentiment that the fight is of secondary importance to Brock’s health and wellbeing, revealing that his symptoms began resurfacing three weeks ago.
(Lesnar was emphatic that this would not be a career-ending malady.)
The UFC held an impromptu conference call today to announce that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has been force to pull out of his upcoming UFC 131 bout in Vancouver next month against Junior dos Santos due to a recent flare-up of diverticulitis that has left the North Dakota native physically unable to train for the bout.
An obviously disappointed Lesnar, who spent 14 hours at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN yesterday undergoing a battery of tests, explained that he tried to work through the exhaustion and the pain of the malady, but it was simply too much to deal with while preparing for such an important bout. Both Lesnar and UFC president Dana White echoed the same sentiment that the fight is of secondary importance to Brock’s health and wellbeing, revealing that his symptoms began resurfacing three weeks ago.
Stepping in for Lesnar, who called the development, “a speed bump on the road,” will be fellow heavyweight contender Shane Carwin who was slated to face John Olav Einemo on the card. Acording to White, a replacement for Einemo has not been decided.
Carwin blogged about the news a short time ago.
“I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva. I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar’s spot for 131. Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title,” Carwin wrote. “I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain. My manager said “This is where you belong” and I am going to make sure I do everything I can to prove him right. Please help make UFC 131 one of the biggest cards in the year.I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day.”
We will have the audio from the call when it concludes and we have the chance to upload it.
Dana White and Brock Lesnar announced in a Media Call today that Lesnar is again plagued with Diverticulitis and is forced to pull out of his UFC 131 headlining bout against Junior dos Santos. Lesnar says it is not as bad as last time but he was unable to train properly for his fight. Shane […]
Dana White and Brock Lesnar announced in a Media Call today that Lesnar is again plagued with Diverticulitis and is forced to pull out of his UFC 131 headlining bout against Junior dos Santos. Lesnar says it is not as bad as last time but he was unable to train properly for his fight. Shane Carwin will be stepping in to replace Lesnar. Lesnar says he is not retiring and this is not the end of his career.
This is another disappointing announcement for UFC as they recently lost their UFC 130 headliners, Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard due to both fighters suffering injuries. Now the long awaited Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos fight coming off their coaching stints on TUF 13 will be indefinitely on hold as Lesnar contemplates his next steps which could include surgery.
It has been a long time coming for heavyweight contender Shane Carwin’s return to the octagon. I’m sure the massive, burly contender has some pent up frustration in those frozen ham mitts of his. His return will happen on June 11th at UFC 131…
It has been a long time coming for heavyweight contender Shane Carwin’s return to the octagon. I’m sure the massive, burly contender has some pent up frustration in those frozen ham mitts of his. His return will happen on June 11th at UFC 131 Lesnar vs. Dos Santos in Vancouver, against 2003 ADCC champion Jon Olav Einemo. After a near twelve month layoff due to injury and rehab the question is, will his back surgery play a role in his return?
The Engineer is no spring chicken and at 36 years old, any major surgery is going to effect how you perform in different ways going forward. Carwin will surely have to monitor fatigue and test run certain twists and movements in his training, but come fight night I believe the injury will play little to no role in his return.
For one, I think he has had enough time off since his surgery to really test and work those things out in his training. We all know training cannot mirror all the intensity of a real fight but in many ways for a back that is recovering from surgery training can be worse. Carwin recently provided MMAJunkie with some insight into his recovery,
He has stated before that the surgery was needed to clean up injuries that he has had since joining the UFC, and that he was in the practice of getting pain relief injections to be able to train and fight. Any solution away from that practice must be a great lift not only physically, but also mentally.
The other main reason why I don’t feel that the surgery will be a factor in his return is his opponent Jon Olav Einemo. The Norwegian is no slouch as he is best known for his defeat of Roger Gracie to win the 2003 ADCC. I come from the “what have you done for me lately” school of thought, and Einemo’s last fight was a submission win over James Thompson in late 2006.
Carwin had this to say about his opponent, “It’s an exciting fight. He’s very dangerous. He was picked as the man to beat Fedor back in the day.”
An interesting comment considering the fact that in early 2006, Einemo lost a unanimous decision to the man who ended up beating Fedor, Fabricio Verdum.
Make no mistake, this is a tough style match-up for Carwin. Being submitted by Brock Lesnar showed weaknesses in his conditioning and his ground skills. Einemo has been hand picked to exploit those weaknesses and see if Shane has evolved his game. His repaired back will be most vulnerable as he tries to defend the take downs that Jon will be shooting for all night and if the fight goes to the ground, it could be a major problem for Carwin. He has to keep this one standing.
The Engineer has had ample time to recover from his surgery. No doubt he has been testing it from every angle defending take downs and submissions in his preparation for what Einemo will bring at UFC 131. There is a real, legit chance Carwin may lose via submission on June 11th in Vancouver, but the back surgery will play little to no role in that happening.
MMA has some really scary-looking dudes. Before a fight, you have to stand across the cage, looking at a guy who wants to rip your head off.Some fighters don’t have a great staredown, and generally aren’t all that terrifying.But then there are oth…
The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.
