UFC 116 Preview: Biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history
This Saturday's heavyweight tilt between Brock Lesnar (4-1) and Shane Carwin (12-0) at the Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 116 event should be the biggest heavyweight title fight of the company's history in more ways than one. First off, with the recent defeat of long-time no.1 ranked Fedor Emelianenko, it means that the winner of this fight will be considered the best heavyweight in the world, an accolade the UFC hasn't had since at least 2002.
But maybe more significantly, both Lesnar and Carwin are massive. Each of them has to cut weight before the weigh-ins to make the 265 pound limit, with Lesnar walking around at close to 300 pounds, and Carwin slightly smaller at 275.
Recent history
Lesnar's recent past is well known. He fought a year ago at UFC 100, where he successfully defended his belt against challenger Frank Mir, absolutely dominating the former champion. He showed greatly improved Brazilian jiu-jitsu positioning to control the black belt on the ground, and used his powerful wrestling base to take him down and punish him throughout the first round, and finally pounded him out midway through the second round.
He was supposed to fight Carwin at UFC 106, but instead came down with a serious intestinal disease, diverticulitis, with his life was apparently in some serious danger. He lost weight, and has had to embark on a lengthy recovery.
After Lesnar had to pull out of the scheduled match, Carwin instead took on Mir instead at UFC 111 for the interim heavyweight championship, where in trademark style he knocked his opponent down in the first round with a series of short uppercuts and then knocked him fully unconscious on the ground.
Style Breakdown
Both of these men come into this match with NCAA Division I wrestling backgrounds, the highest level of college wrestling available in the United States.
Lesnar's wrestling skill is well known. He worked as a professional wrestler for a time, but silenced any doubters about his ability to actually fight by crushing Heath Herring, UFC great Randy Couture and then Mir after having suffered an early submission loss to Mir in his UFC debut. Lesnar is not only a powerhouse but also has excellent technique.
He possesses heavy hands as well and can bring devastating power from the top, which he used to stop Couture and Mir. On the feet though he has occasionally looked vulnerable, and doesn't possess great technical striking.
Carwin on the other hand has vicious knock-out power with his hands, which he has used to repeatedly knock out opponents. All of his 12 professional fights have ended that way. His wrestling has been seen less than that of Lesnar's, but that is simply because he's so good at knocking people out on the feet that he hasn't had to use it. He was however in trouble on the ground briefly against Brazilian heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga before knocking him out.
Betting tips and questions
The two questions going into this match will be how well Lesnar has recovered from his very serious illness, and how well Carwin's cardio will hold up over a five-round fight. Lesnar has looked to be in excellent shape, but a long layoff often brings "ring rust" into play, and Lesnar's body has undergone some incredible stress.
Carwin on the other hand has never had a fight go out of the first round because he's been so adept at stopping his opponents early. If this fight does go three rounds or more, it will be questionable to see how he holds up, but he has always looked to be in very good shape.
Betting houses currently have Carwin as a very slight underdog, paying out $1.20 on a $1 bet whereas a bet on Lesnar only pays 1$ for a bet of $1.55. With Carwin's stand-up punching power and lesser lay-off, he'll be the better bet going into Saturday's clash.
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