Carwin (top) file photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Posted on 07/03/2010 1:46:03 PM PDT by downwdims
Carwin (top) file photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
With just one tap by Fedor Emelianenko, UFC 116 “Lesnar vs. Carwin” went from being headlined by a heavyweight title unifier to a battle for status as the world’s premier heavyweight.
Airing live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the cost of admission is worth it just for the chance to watch Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin decide who is the heavyweight alpha male of the moment.
For a proper breakdown of this massively important fight as well as the rest of the main card proceedings, read on and get your knowledge right.
Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
A few days ago the title unification bout between Lesnar and Carwin was the biggest heavyweight fight on the UFC docket. Then Fedor Emelianenko lost, the Internet blew up and the No. 1 spot in the division is now all but reserved for the winner of this fight.
Who exactly holds the edge in the race for heavyweight supremacy is anyone’s guess. Lesnar has been on the shelf for a year thanks to a life-threatening case of diverticulitis, and Carwin still has yet to fight past the first round. For all the questions on the table, however, both fighters are still unbelievably talented prototypes for the next generation of physically dominant heavyweights. With that much freakish DNA in the cage, strategy is going to be what separates these two.
Known for being a pure power puncher and little else, Carwin actually showed surprising fight IQ in his fight with Frank Mir by pressing him against the cage and clubbing the former UFC heavyweight champion in close quarters. Just a little bit of strategy makes Carwin’s sense-shattering punches that much more dangerous, and it’s hard to imagine Lesnar going blow for blow with his ginormous counterpart. That’s not to say Lesnar can’t crack; rather, he hasn’t shown Carwin’s willingness to brawl nor his ongoing improvements as a boxer.
What Lesnar does have on Carwin is wrestling. The hulking South Dakotan has a preposterously fast shot and real wrestling skills to back it up. Just from a technical perspective, Carwin relies heavily on his strength to get takedowns, which won’t work against a wrestler of Lesnar’s caliber. Getting stuck underneath Lesnar is a scenario he has to avoid at all costs considering the smothering top control and rapid-fire ground striking synonymous with the reformed pro wrestler.
Those are all skills Lesnar has refined in a shockingly short amount of time while Carwin’s game hasn’t changed much since bursting onto the scene. While Lesnar’s recent dance with death has many wondering what sort of shape his body is in, he hasn’t fought in nearly a year, which is plenty of time to regain his form. All that time sitting on the sidelines also gave Lesnar the chance to continue making quantum leaps in his game.
Assuming full health and massive improvement from a guy who had a hole in his guts not too long ago may seem like a leap of faith, but Lesnar has proven many times over that he simply defies human physiology. As long as his strategy doesn’t defy logic, he has the edge on Carwin, who needs to be upright to win this fight. Every second this fight is on the feet will be a nail-biter, but Lesnar will keep them to a minimum by ground-and-pounding Carwin for the win.
I have about as much respect for these animals as I do for pit bull fighters. At least pit bulls are doing what they were bred to do even though it sickens me to see it. And I find this stuff just as sickening to watch. Just my oppinion.
Hope you brought the asbestos suit today.
There are plenty of other threads for you then. This one is for MMA fans and or practitioners. Your "oppinion" is noted, but irrelevant.
Stay away if spoilers aren't your thing.
Total BS
Thanks for the BE link, didn’t know they had one. I usually find myself laying in bed huddled in the soft glow of my Blackberry whilst reading the last fight or two details. I’ll try the BE link tonight.
Predictions:
Lesnar by TKO R3 (Too many people are picking the upset)
Pelligrino for the Upset, he might get mauled by George S, but what the hell
Matt Brown for another Upset. I am a little shakier on this one. Mainly because I don’t like the way Lytle fights.
And Leben for another upset. I think Akiyama is sleeping on Leben. Leben has a damn fire hydrent for a head, and I think Leben will be able to get to Akiyama’s chin early and often.
I call them up every PPV and complain. Look I want to give you my money, can I please have this in HD.
Lets Hope they get the Doccis 3 upgrades done as soon as possible
Hopefully it works well for you. The Sherdog one usually gets slamed around Main Event time.
Hopefully they bought some more bandwidth after Fedor losing killed the internets last weekend
Pit bulls fights in most cases are to the death; apples and oranges. These guys are equivalent to modern day gladiators. It is a brutal sport, but there is beauty, style, training, and a sweet science to it.
Surprisingly as brutal as this sport is, there are far less career ending injuries than football and even soccer. Watch a soccer game and count the number of times people are dragged off the field with blown out knees, concussions, etc... Football it is almost impossible to count the number of injuries.
Then go help your mother in the kitchen! Nobody’s forcing you to watch.
carwin...Akiyama...lytle....sosz....sotiropoulos
Thanks for the ping! I’m scrambling trying to figure out how I’m going to watch tonight, since I’m away from home!
Nah, I can handle anything thrown at me. They should hold these fights on the Gulf beaches so the “fighters” can crawl back into the ooze when they’re finished.
And I’ll say it again. I don’t think mankind was “bred” for this purpose. That’s exactly what Pit Bulls are bred to do. I put them all in the same category. Both should be outlawed or at least kept on a leash.
You just posted something very dumb at the top of a thread thats going to get bantered about all night. So every poster coming into the thread is going to call you ignorant (which you are)
I could really care less what some un-educated person thinks about the sport. We are way past that mattering. It’s sanctioned and regulated in almost every State.
All things being equal, I would pick Lesnar to win. Unfortunately, all things are not equal. Lesnar has been on the shelf for a year because of diverticulitis. Therefore, I think Carwin will take it by KO/TKO.
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