UFC 116 boasts a main event for the heavyweight title between two larger than life (pun intended) opponents. Shane Carwin (12-0) and Brock Lesnar (4-1) will face off on Saturday in what will likely tell the true pecking order of the heavyweight division not only in the UFC but in MMA. This fight has has its ups and downs in getting made but it’s finally upon us, and promises to be an intriguing fight regardless of the outcome.
There are two things that stand out to me in this fight. The first is that Brock Lesnar only has one loss on his record and it was largely due to the slick jiu jitsu of Frank Mir and the inexperience of Lesnar. The second is that Shane Carwin has never lost a fight, seen round two, or even the 4-minute mark of any fight. Today I’d like to talk about Carwin, tomorrow I’ll cover more about Lesnar.
Shane Carwin is a good fighter. He has seen adversity and overcome it during a fight, and he has found success in the most successful MMA promotion in the world. I don’t say this lightly, even more so he has devastated every one of his opponents the majority by KO and TKO, even half of his submissions are by punches. On paper this seems like real trouble for Brock Lesnar.
I am one KO away from personally believing in Shane Carwin’s ability to devastate quality opponents. Brock Lesnar will be fifth opponent in the UFC for Carwin and only his 3rd opponent to still remain in the UFC. This will be without a doubt Carwin’s toughest fight and his most impressive opponent.
The weakenesses of Carwin fall into the category of the unknown. We don’t know how his cardio is because he’s never has to rely on it. We don’t know how effective his wrestling would be in the octagon because he’s never had to use it. This is where there could be issues for Carwin. We all know that he comes from the Jackson camp which means he’ll come in on saturday with a five round gameplan. Who knows how this plan will shake down once he faces an evenly sized if not slightly bigger behemoth across the ring.
The bottom line is that I think Carwin’s best shot is to take Lesnar standing, because if it gets to the ground I’m unsure how evenly matched they are in skills. Many have spoke to the strength of Carwin’s wrestling, however I don’t know if it can stand against the caliber of athlete he’ll be facing on saturday. If he can find a way to edge out Lesnar’s wrestling and exploit the advantage he should have on their feet, I could see this being a short night for Lesnar.
