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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief The big rumor floating around Thursday is that Shane Carwin will be getting an immediate shot at Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Title at UFC 106 in Las Vegas, foregoing a fight with Cain Velasquez expected for UFC 104 in October.
The first crack of this came from a tweet from MinnesotaMMA on Twitter stating "Just got word. UFC [106] on November 21 will feature Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin." The story was then reported by multiple outlets in MMAMadness.com and the U.K. based Fighter's Only.
The Fighter's Only report states that Velasquez would then face the winner of the Carwin-Lesnar bout. It also said the UFC scrapped the bout to keep both Carwin and Velasquez as viable contenders.
Carwin responded to the rumors late Wednesday night on his official site, saying "Lots of talk going around right now. It seems to stem from a twitter post out of MN. I can't confirm or deny anything I can just tell you guys that I am training harder then ever and your support and loyalty will carry me through any fight they send my way. With you guys on my side I am ready for whatever happens. Stay tuned to the site or UFC.com for any official news about me."
Stay tuned for more, as this is sure to pick up steam until the UFC "confirms or denies" that this bout will indeed take place.
Penick's Analysis: If this is indeed the route they're going to take it does make sense. Velasquez and Carwin can both separately be challenges to Lesnar and as undefeated fighters can each be sold as legit challengers. Velasquez probably still needs one more fight in the interim if the Carwin-Lesnar fight does take place in November, but it does make sense not to sacrifice one for the other with the originally planned UFC 104 bout.
Carwin's got the heaviest cinder block like hands that Lesnar will have ever faced, and is a solid hand at wrestling as well, and many believe he is the biggest threat to Lesnar in the heavyweight division not named Fedor. Add in the fact that Carwin's been doing a lot of talking when it comes to Brock Lesnar and you can be assured it's a fight Lesnar wants. Some have suggested the possibility that Brock asked for this fight, which is something that would not come as a surprise.
Another added factor to this is Strikeforce likely not getting Fedor into their cage until November. Lesnar fighting in the same month will crush any numbers or media interest the Fedor fight would be bringing to Strikeforce, and M-1 can say anything they please about all the talk about Lesnar coming back around to Fedor, the fact is, within two or three more big time fights in the UFC, if Lesnar wins them he will be considered the best of the best in the heavyweight division until Fedor comes to the UFC to prove otherwise. This is an interesting development for sure, and as soon as something is made more official we will pass it along.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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