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.