Filed under: UFC, NewsLAS VEGAS — With so much focus on Brock Lesnar’s return from illness as the main storyline for UFC 116, it’s been easy to miss some of the fight-oriented details of his upcoming title unification bout with interim champion Shane …
LAS VEGAS — With so much focus on Brock Lesnar‘s return from illness as the main storyline for UFC 116, it’s been easy to miss some of the fight-oriented details of his upcoming title unification bout with interim champion Shane Carwin.
Yet in all the words that have escaped the mouths of those who’ve spoken about Lesnar in the last few days, few will have as much impact on Saturday night as a quick revelation that some might have missed if they weren’t fully attentive to his words. Despite the long layoff, Lesnar is essentially re-inventing himself for the biggest fight of his life, admitting to reporters that he’ll be taking the risk of competing in a brand-new stance.
“I brought in Peter Welch, and we changed my stance and switched it from traditional to southpaw,” he said. “It’s really worked out, helped on wrestling and shooting. We changed a lot of things and we’ll see if they work I guess.”
Well, we’ve got a big UFC event coming up this weekend, which means you should all head over to fightpicker.cagepotato.com (or apps.facebook.com/fightpicker) and make your predictions for UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin. Congrats to FightPicker Grandmaste…
Of course, if you had some balls you’d bet actual money on the fights, and not silly-ass "PotatoChips." As usual, we’d like to help you win some cash for Saturday’s event — or at the very least not take heavy losses. Betting lines are below, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com; if you don’t know what this stuff means, read this first.
MAIN CARD Brock Lesnar (-130) vs. Shane Carwin (+140) Yoshihiro Akiyama (-200) vs. Chris Leben (+185) Chris Lytle (-195) vs. Matt Brown (+160) Krzysztof Soszynski (-218) vs. Stephan Bonnar (+195) George Sotiropoulos (-195) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (+160)
SPIKE TV PRELIMS Brendan Schaub (-295) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (+264) Ricardo Romero (-145) vs. Seth Petruzelli (+120)
PRELIMINARY CARD Goran Reljic (-155) vs. Kendall Grove (+145) Gerald Harris (-245) vs. Dave Branch (+200) Daniel Roberts (-170) vs. Forrest Petz (+145) Karlos Vemola (-160) vs. Jon Madsen (+150)
(Props: UFC.com/JamesToney)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– Was Fedor Another Victim of EA’s Cover Curse? (MiddleEasy)
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Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– Was Fedor Another Victim of EA’s Cover Curse? (MiddleEasy)
– Shane Carwin: ‘One of Us Will Need Help Leaving the Octagon’ at UFC 116 (MMA Fighting)
– Spike To Telecast Weigh-Ins For UFC 116 Lesnar-Carwin (Watch Kalib Run)
– George Sotiropoulos Will Fight Anyone (Heavy.com/MMA)
– Three Strikes and You’re Out: How Groin Shots Are Changing the Outcome of Fights (Five Ounces of Pain)
– Photo Gallery: M-1/Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum (FightMagazine)
– Fedor Emelianenko’s Career in 69 Seconds (MMA Scraps)
(Video courtesy YouTube/Zuffa)
Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin have really stepped up the trash talk in the week leading up to their heavyweight title clash Saturday night at UFC 116.
Prior to this point, Lesnar has been uncharacteristically sedate…
(Video courtesy YouTube/Zuffa)
Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin have really stepped up the trash talk in the week leading up to their heavyweight title clash Saturday night at UFC 116.
Prior to this point, Lesnar has been uncharacteristically sedate in his pre-fight posturing and seemed almost respectful towards Carwin during a conference call two weeks ago.
Well, apparently Brock got the itch to flip the script and went "WWE" on Shane in the above video.
"I feel no threat by him whatsoever. I don’t feel any threats by anybody."
Considering Carwin has yet to be defeated and has never fought outside of round one in any of his bouts, he may want to consider him a threat.
Cognizant that Lesnar is likely speaking out of his ass, Carwin calls him on the remark as well.
"Brock can talk all the garbage he wants for this fight. When they close that cage and I see Brock across from me, I want to tear him apart."
I know one thing: Somebody is getting hurt in this one.
Unless your name is Phillip Miller, you can’t expect to go through a career in cage-fighting without losing at least once. So in honor of Fedor Emelianenko’s first legitimate defeat, we decided to take a look at the best MMA fighters who st…
Unless your name is Phillip Miller, you can’t expect to go through a career in cage-fighting without losing at least once. So in honor of Fedor Emelianenko’s first legitimate defeat, we decided to take a look at the best MMA fighters who still have flawless records. Whose “0” will be the next to go? And whose win streak is just getting started? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section…
#1: SHANE CARWIN (12-0, all wins by first-round stoppage) Notable victories: Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 96 (TKO R1), Frank Mir at UFC 111 (TKO R1, won UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship) Next fight:Brock Lesnar at UFC 116, 7/3/10
He may very well take his first loss this Saturday, but right now, Shane Carwin is the most dangerous undefeated fighter in MMA — as evidenced by the fact that no opponent has made it to the second round against him, and only two have lasted past the second minute. As he immediately showed in his UFC debut against Christian Wellisch at UFC 84, Carwin has a near-supernatural ability to generate power with his 4XL fists. Though he’s backed by impressive wrestling credentials, he’s only needed those hands to achieve victory in the UFC, knocking out top contenders Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir in his last two fights. Brock, get ready to have your chin tested.
#2: MEGUMI FUJII (20-0, 16 wins by submission) Notable victories: Lisa Ward at Bodog Fight: Vancouver (SUB R1), Mika Nagano at Smackgirl: Starting Over (SUB R1)
One of the most effective submission artists in the history of MMA, “Mega Megu” owns the longest active win streak in the sport, but suffers from the same problem that Cris Cyborg is facing in the States — a scarcity of legitimate challengers. Now that she’s signed on for Bellator’s 115-pound tourney later this year, she can prove her reputation as a living legend who can do more than armbar pint-sized scrubettes in Japan.
With Fedor Emelianenko now having a ‘real’ loss on his record, this Saturday’s UFC 116 tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Shane Carwin has become even more important, as their will be little doubt that the winner is the world’s #1 heavyweight. Not that the fight wasn’t receiving a lot of hype already, […]
With Fedor Emelianenko now having a ‘real’ loss on his record, this Saturday’s UFC 116 tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Shane Carwin has become even more important, as their will be little doubt that the winner is the world’s #1 heavyweight. Not that the fight wasn’t receiving a lot of hype already, which is more than understandable, considering the size, power and agility of each man (just ask Frank Mir what it feels like to be rag dolled by both).
Some of the interesting storylines heading into the fight have surrounded Shane Carwin, who first, fired back at critics and the UFC’s “talking heads” who said he wasn’t doing enough media, and more recently, when the imposing fighter posted what he was going to get paid (one wouldn’t use the word ‘transparency’ to describe Zuffa’s pay structure). Carwin says he’s not inline to get a piece of the pay-per-view pie (which Lesnar knows is delicious), and will make 80 grand if he wins. When asked by MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes recently, if he’ll be looking to renegotiate provided he wins Saturday, Carwin said this:
“I do not think so. Beating Brock does not make you Brock. I will still need to insult most of the fighters in my division, flip off the fans, insult the biggest sponsors the UFC has and then and only then will I renegotiate with Zuffa. Dana and Lorenzo have taken good care of my family and I. They have given us more than they are obligated to and we are happy.”
(Cue drums and the obligatory cymbal please) See, there’s some nice verbal work from Carwin. To bet on Saturday’s card head here.
LAS VEGAS — With so much focus on Brock Lesnar‘s return from illness as the main storyline for UFC 116, it’s been easy to miss some of the fight-oriented details of his upcoming title unification bout with interim champion Shane Carwin.
