August 20, 2009, at 5:11 pm
Well, that happened quickly. A number #1 contender bout between Carwin and Cain Velasquez has been altogether called off and Carwin has been deemed worthy of taking on Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship.
In an overwhelming flurry of swapping, it appears that top heavyweight contender Shane Carwin is headed to UFC 106 on Nov. 21 to challenge UFC champion Brock Lesnar. Multiple MMAWeekly.com sources close to the bout indicate that, while the fight has yet to be officially signed off, both parties have verbally agreed to it.
Carwin had originally been slated to face fellow heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 on Oct. 24 in Los Angeles. MMAMadness first reported speculation on Wednesday night that Carwin would instead be picked up to face Lesnar in the main event of UFC 106.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Thursday confirmed the agreed to bout between Carwin and Lesnar, and also indicated that Ben Rothwell would now step into the fight with Velasquez at UFC 104. Rothwell had been expected to fight fellow Affliction transfer Chase Gormley on the UFC 104 undercard.
This is all for the best. Carwin has a much better chance of defeating Lesnar than Velasquez does simply because the latter lacks any kind of real power. The bigger, stronger Carwin has a much better shot at the dethroning the king, as long as he uses the right gameplan. You know, the one that I detailed here.
It’s hard to pick against Lesnar right now, but I still don’t know if he can win a fight in the standup department. If Carwin can stay on his feet, I really like his chances in this fight.
As for Velasquez, this is the best thing for him. While he is an elite level prospect, MMA’s version of Stephen Strasburg perhaps, he is still figuring out his game. He needs to work on his ground and pound to develop damaging power from top position. Right now, his best chance of winning fights is by outpointing opponents. That doesn’t work when you are fighting for championships. You have to at least threaten to end the fight.
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[...] Lesnar v. Carwin Added To UFC 106 | The 3rd String Safety http://www.3rdstringsafety.com/2009/08/lesnar-v-carwin-added-to-ufc-106 – view page – cached Well, that happened quickly. A number #1 contender bout between Carwin and Cain Velasquez has been altogether called off and Carwin has been deemed worthy of taking on Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship. — From the page [...]