Shane Carwin Quickly Accepts Opportunity to Put Himself Back in Contention

Shane Carwin at the Grudge Training Center

It is sometimes odd how the winds of change alter life.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar felt the cold wisp of the wind on Thursday as he had to drop out of his proposed number one contenders bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 in June. Lesnar is again battling diverticulitis.

He’ll have some tough medical decisions to make in the coming days, weeks, and months, but he has declared he’s not giving in without a fight, and plans to one day return to the Octagon.

Stepping in for him at UFC 131 in Vancouver is former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin.

“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,” Carwin wrote on his web site on Thursday. “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.”

Jason Genet, Carwin’s manager, told MMAWeekly.com that, just as it would have been for Lesnar, a win by Carwin will earn him a shot at current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Carwin has had to undergo his own battle, although not life threatening like Lesnar’s, dealing with a problem called lactic acidosis. It’s a condition that caused his body to basically start to shut down during his fight with Lesnar at UFC 116 last summer.

Carwin has been working for months to make sure the problem doesn’t recur, and believes he has it under control. He was already on the card for UFC 131, expecting to take on Octagon newcomer Jon Olav Einemo.

UFC president Dana White said on Thursday that they haven’t yet addressed a new opponent for Einemo.

“My manager said, ‘This is where you belong,’” Carwin wrote, “and I am going to make sure I do everything I can to prove him right.”

“I hope Brock is able to recover,” he added. “I look forward to facing him again one day.”

(Additional reporting by Damon Martin)

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Ken Pishna is the managing editor of MMAWeekly.com.
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