UFC
Shane Carwin comments on Brock Lesnar pulling out of UFC 131, taking his spot against Junior Dos Santos
May 12, 2011 - 11:30:12 PM Shane Carwin comments on Brock Lesnar pulling out of UFC 131, taking his spot against Junior Dos Santos

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Shane Carwin was just as surprised as everyone this afternoon to find out that Brock Lesnar was being forced out of the UFC 131 main event with Junior Dos Santos and that he was being tapped as the replacement. In fact, to read his take on it, it seems his management stepped up to take the fight for him without even talking to him first, but he was fine with that.

Here's what Carwin had to say on his official site:

"I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva. I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar's spot for 131.

Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title. I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain.

My manager said 'This is where you belong' and I am going to make sure I do everything I can to prove him right.

Please help make UFC 131 one of the biggest cards in the year.

I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day."

Carwin was already scheduled to compete on the card in a bout with Jon Olav Einemo, so he's already in the midst of his training camp for this event. Now, he'll have a chance to earn another shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship with a win over Dos Santos on June 11 in Vancouver.

Penick's Analysis: They lucked out in having Carwin ready to go on this event already, as he's the next best fight for this spot after Lesnar. This is still one hell of a heavyweight fight, even though it's not nearly as big as the fight between Lesnar and Dos Santos would have been. Still, after being out nearly a full year himself, Carwin finds himself in a very opportunistic spot, and this fight with Dos Santos is a huge opportunity for him to get back to a shot at the title once again.

[Shane Carwin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]