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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
On Monday, MMAJunkie.com reported that Shane Carwin would be a part of the UFC 131 event expected to come to Vancouver in June, and on Tuesday, Carwin confirmed that booking.
In a blog post on his official website, Carwin updated his status following his recent surgery, and revealed a potential return bout that didn't come to fruition.
"A couple of weeks ago [the UFC] requested that I fight in late may or early June," Carwin wrote. "I have subsequently 'tweeted' that those are my target return dates. I want to fight as much as possible this year.
"So last week we got the call from Joe Silva asking if we would consider fighting Nelson at UFC 130. We accepted the match up and UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva said that it was 90% a go. The next day we were informed that they went a different direction for Nelson and that they want me to fight someone at UFC 131 in Vancouver. I have once again rapidly accepted the date."
Carwin doesn't have an opponent yet set for the event, but he is getting excited about fighting in Canada for the first time.
"I am pumped to be [able] to fight in Canada," he said. "The international fans are so pumped for the shows and if you have never been to B.C. I am certain BC stands for Beautiful Country.
"I am training hard and working on fixing the issues I ran into during the Lesnar fight. I will be ready and I hope that I am indeed fighting in June in B.C."
Penick's Analysis: The leading candidates for Carwin right now are probably Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, though those two could be facing off against one another. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira might be a possibility as well, but after that the prospects get murky. Cheick Kongo's a possibility, but at this point until we hear more it's just speculation. But, whomever they go with, it will make for a good heavyweight fight for the Canadian fans in Vancouver.
[Shane Carwin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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