Shane Carwin Confirms he will face Brock Lesnar

On his website, Shane Carwin has confirmed he has verbally agreed to fight Brock Lesnar at the upcoming UFC 106 event.

From Shane-Carwin.com:

I have verbally been offered the fight with Brock and I have verbally accepted this fight. My manager and the UFC are handling the the details. I am honored that the UFC has given me this opportunity. The fans of this sport are what makes MMA so great. I expect to be fighting at UFC 106 in November.

Shane Carwin, who is currently 11-0, including an impressive knockout in the 1st round of Gabriel Gonzaga, is a good match-up against Lesnar. At 6' 3" tall and weighing 265 pounds, he nearly equals Brock in size and stature, in fact he his 5XL gloves are bigger than Brock Lesnar's 4XL gloves. Carwin has a top amateur wrestling pedigree as well, and boasts some serious knockout power. Most of his fights end in the first minute or so of the fight, but it remains to be seen if he can stay off his back in a match against Lesnar.

Dana White comments on Bobby Lashley

"Yes, we're watching him". Those were the words that Dana White used to answer the question regarding the WWE's other MMA product. Lashley, in contrast to UFC Champion, Brock Lesnar, has fought on relatively small shows. His biggest name fight was his last fight against former K1 star, and all around big dude, Bob Sapp. That was a quick 1 round rout, but Sapp has little skills beyond just pummeling guys, and Lashley isn't much smaller than him. At 6' 3" tall and almost 260 pounds, he might be the closest thing to Brock Lesnar in terms of size and athleticism. He also carries with him an impeccable amateur wrestling record as well where he won 3 national titles at Missouri Valley College.

Lashley could become next year's (fall 2010) consolation prize to the Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes. Fedor recently signed a 3 fight deal with Strikeforce, and those 3 fights are expected to take him through fall of 2010. The UFC will likely be major players for Fedor's services next year, the same as they were this year. If Brock Lesnar can continue winning against the UFC's top heavyweight talent, the UFC will be pressed hard by fans, and their own need to generate a buzz, to sign Fedor and make the biggest match in MMA history a reality. If Brock however falters, losing the title, the UFC will be after Fedor's services to build the heavyweight division around him. Dana White likes his stars, and having a star that has no one left to fight can be bad for business.

That said, the UFC still has a number of top contenders (Noguiera, Couture, Velasquez, Carwin, Kongo, and a rematch with Mir) so the possibility of Lesnar no longer being the heavyweight champ this time next year certainly is not out of the question. Lesnar has beat Couture and Mir already, and has stated after the second Mir fight that he has no interest in fighting Frank Mir again, explaining that he doesn't want to keep fighting the "same guys". Not sure how he would have felt about that had Mir had the real belt as opposed to the "Interim belt" and turned down a rematch with Lesnar after already beating him once, but I digress.

That would leave Noguiera, who has seemed more interested in the 205 weight class as of late, Velasquez and Carwin will face each other next with the winner getting a shot at Lesnar, and Kongo looked horrible against Velasquez in his last outing, so he may not be a dream matchup. So Lesnar would likely face the winner of the Vleasquez/Carwin match, followed by a potential match with Kongo or Noguiera, or both. That would take him to the free agent period where Lashley and Fedor could become part of the UFC and Lesnar's next round of competition.

Bobby Lashley would be an interesting matchup for Brock. He nearly equals him in size, speed, athleticism, experience, and both have remarkable amateur backgrounds. They are virtual mirror images of each other. The only difference: Lashley is earning his stripes, while Lesnar was handed a title shot against a guy 40 pounds lighter, more that 10 years older, and fresh off an extended retirement period. By the time that fight would happen, it may not matter though, Lesnar does appear to be learning quicker than Lashley, and with the lineup of opponents he faces yet, is likely to be the more prepared fighter next year. Still, Lashley may have something at that time that Lesnar wants and can never get, an undefeated record.

Carwin or Velazquez next for Lesnar?

UFC 104 is set to pit two undefeated heavyweight contenders in a match that will likely earn the winner a shot at Brock Lesnar's title.

Cain Velasquez (6-0) stands 6' 1" and weighs in around 240 pounds. Velasquez has superior ground game skills, is relentless when he smells weakness, and will attack, attack, attack to finish a fight. His last fight against Kongo was a complete domination for 3 rounds, credit going to Kongo for lasting all three rounds. Velasquez man-handled Kongo, pulling off pretty much everything he wanted to do. Still, he is smaller than Lesnar, and while Kongo was a big opponent, Velasquez has not yet seen anything like Brock in terms of size and explosiveness.

Shane Carwin, who is currently 11-0, including an impressive knockout in the 1st round of Gabriel Gonzaga, is probably the better match-up against Lesnar. At 6' 3" tall and weighing 265 pounds, he nearly equals Brock in size and stature, in fact he his 5XL gloves are bigger than Brock Lesnar's 4XL gloves. Carwin has a top amateur wrestling pedigree as well, and boasts some serious knockout power. Most of his fights end in the first minute or so of the fight, but it remains to be seen if he can stay off his back in a match against Lesnar.

Shane Carwin commented about Brock Lesnar's behavior following his victory over Frank Mir on his personal site www.shane-carwin.com:

“I cannot say I was surprised by anything that night other then Brock’s reaction to beating a very tough Frank Mir. Frank is a legend and a great guy who got out powered not out classed. The sponsor issue, you need to talk to your manager not the fans or Dana. The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a Champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a Champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama it is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you can’t earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose it matters how you win or loose…. This is the greatest sport int he world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just dont get it.

From leaving the venue all the way to the Airport I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them. The thing is I have a very tough fight ahead of me that IMO is every bit as tough and talented as Brock … we are at the top of the HWT division and anyone we fight moving forward is going to be a real test. Cain is nothing short of a super athlete with amazing wrestling and he trains with one of the best camps in the country. I am sure Joe Silva told Cain the same thing he told us, winner gets the title shot. Cain is not looking past me he is looking right at me as the person that is in his way from potentially one of the greatest opportunities of his life and mine. I have said what I have to say about Brock. He will make sure the world knows who he is and what he is all about. I ask that you my fans and the fans of Cain give this fight its due. You would never see two rising undefeated stars put together in Boxing so enjoy this fight. Two warriors with wills to win and the skills to do so are going to show those watching UFC 104 what the future of the sport will look like.”