(That guy in the lower left still has nightmares to this day. Photo courtesy of 5oz.)
Great news, everybody: Shane Carwin may finally be getting a real opponent. Not to say that his past opponents haven’t been "real," in a literal sense — they’ve all unquestionably had height, width, and depth, and existed in what we all perceive as the physical realm — but anybody who’s seen the massive heavyweight prospect fight knows that he has enough talent to be a title contender, and deserves better competition than the palookas he’s been stomping lately. Over ten fights, Carwin has racked up ten first-round stoppages, with the longest being his pro debut against Carlton Jones, which went to the 2:11 mark. His two opponents in the UFC, Christian Wellisch and Neil Wain, were rescued at the 0:44 and 1:31 marks, respectively.
So anyway, it looks like he’s getting Gabriel Gonzaga (10-3) next. FiveOuncesofPain reports that Carwin and "Napao" will be meeting at UFC 96 (March 7th; Columbus, Ohio). Gonzaga was briefly considered one of the ten best heavyweights in the world, before consecutive losses to Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum derailed his momentum. Since then, he’s gotten his balls back with quick stoppage victories over Justin McCully and most recently Josh Hendricks at last month’s UFC 91. Gonzaga and Carwin both lie somewhere in the middle of the UFC’s heavyweight ladder, and the winner of their fight will take a big step towards a title shot. Though Gonzaga has unraveled against tough competition in the past, he’ll be the first legitimate test for Carwin. Should be a corker.
In other fight-booking news…
— Fresh off a drilling of Jason MacDonald at the Ultimate Fighter 8 finale last Saturday, Wilson Gouveia has verbally agreed to face Nate Marquardt at UFC 95 (February 21st, London). Marquardt is coming off a first-round TKO victory over Martin Kampmann at UFC 88.
— Former all-American wrestler and WEC vet Jake Rosholt will make his UFC debut in a middleweight bout against Alessio Sakara at UFC Fight Night 17 (February 7th; Tampa, Florida). Though his standup looked shaky in his last bout against Nissen Osterneck at WEC 36, Rosholt is undefeated in five pro fights, with all wins by stoppage. Sakara is 4-4 (with one no-contest) in the UFC, and most recently knocked out Joe Vedepo at UFC Fight Night 15.
— New WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown, who scored a shocking upset TKO over Urijah Faber at WEC 36, has agreed to take on Leonard Garcia for his first title defense in March. Brown is on an eight-fight win streak and hasn’t lost a match since December 2005. Garcia has been 2-0 since exiting the UFC and dropping from lightweight to featherweight, notching impressive first-round knockout wins over Hiroyuki Takaya and Jens Pulver.
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Comments
Sun, 12/21/08 - 10:27
This is a great opportunity for Shane Carwin to put himself on the map with the common fan. I think he actually has a strong advantage, especially with Randy in his corner helping create teh right game plan. But I couldn't count Napao out. I'm very interested in watching this fight.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 10:52
THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLY GOOD FIGHT. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO PUT MY MONEY ON GABRIEL GONZAGA TO HAND CARWIN HIS FIRST DEFEAT.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 10:52
Shane Carwin did not look that impressive to me at all against his last opponent. To me it looked like he was losing till he took it to the ground... which i dont know much about him but he did look like a good wrestler. But I think he'll be slower to take Gonzaga down because of his credentials. Gonzagas striking looked better than Carwins out of the last two fights.. but I wouldnt want to get hit by Carwins Mallets.. apparently they are bigger than Brock Lesnars... I definately think it should have been Lesnar vs Carwin instead of Lesnar jumping to mma stardom...
Sun, 12/21/08 - 10:59
Kudos to Brown for fighting Garcia in his first defense...he's gonna have a short stint as champ.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 11:03
Gonzaga by JJ
Sun, 12/21/08 - 11:07
I'm thinking Gonzaga, better striking and better ground game. The only advantage Carwin has is size. But if I remember right Gonzaga weighed in in the high 250's for his last fight.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 11:16
with carwins gorilla arms and gonzaga's gorilla back hair, i can't wait to see this fight!
Sun, 12/21/08 - 11:34
Yeah I'm also thinking Brown's going down. I want to see Garcia vs Faber.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 12:15
the problem with a guy who's 10-0 with 10 first round stoppages, is that he's 10-0 with 10 first round stoppages......all of which against either non-ufc fighters or soon to be non ufc fighters. but this matchup is exactly what all the fans have been screaming for, myself included. can't wait, now all we need is for cain velazquez to get hooked up the same....which may be in the works....anyone?
Sun, 12/21/08 - 12:19
as far as the other matchups go.... marquardt is better than gouveia technically in most aspects i believe.....but if he gets touched on the chin by gouveia's power he just might go to sleep. I still like Nate for the win though, by close decision...maybe even split. and rosholt's standup is definitely garbage, but he's athletic enough to avoid getting ko'd by sakara and will most likely take him down and keep him there.....or he could pull off a sub with his improving ground game, but i say roshold by one-sided decision. garcia is definitely heavy handed, but so is brown...who i also believe is more technical than garcia. but i don't really know anything about brown's chin, and i've seen garcia take some heavy shots......so i'll say garcia by ko as well but that's a tough one to call.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 12:29
garcia wins by nipple twist obviously
Sun, 12/21/08 - 01:04
...and shit eatin grin....WAR GARCIA!
Sun, 12/21/08 - 01:04
9,13min total fighting time in 10 bounts. That is indeed impressive, aye?
Sun, 12/21/08 - 01:25
Randy does not train Shane Carwin. He trains with Nate Marquardt in Colorado. He has also said that he has been training with GSP in Montreal, and since he is in those two fighter's posse, I am guessing Greg Jackson will be creating his gameplan.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 02:39
Carwin was brought in for Randy so that he could prepare for the Lesnar fight. He also wears 4XL Gloves apparently. Carwin seems like a Brock Lesnar with skill.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 02:49
this site is so fuckin lame they leave the fight of the week up for over a week and they post one fuckin topic in the last 24 hours fuck you Cagepotato you filthy cunt muscles
Sun, 12/21/08 - 03:11
Randy's flaw was not having a penis on Shane's chest during training. It's one thing to spar, but when you have a penis that close to your mouth during the real fight...it's just not the same. It baffles the mind
Sun, 12/21/08 - 03:13
Carwin vs. Manbearpig should be great.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 04:22
if gonzaga got his shit pushed in by coutoure then carwin will be able to manhandle him...and he lost to werdum who i think might literally die if he were to step in the ring with carwin
Sun, 12/21/08 - 04:28
they do take weekends to not sit at their computers and jack-off to mma vids and search the world wild web for spectacular mma news unlike someone i can see and regarding the fight of the week ya wtf cp
Sun, 12/21/08 - 04:34
^@anonymous^
Sun, 12/21/08 - 04:44
all these fights seem good...i like seeing carwin finally getting a test lets see if zaga goes to his jitz more in this one..as rosholt better use more of his wrestling than he did last time out
Sun, 12/21/08 - 05:24
i should disagree on this one. carwin has only fought bums up to now and didnt fight for more than one round yet. gonzaga has ko power in his hands and shins, and is also a bjj black belt. he lost to couture and werdum(twice), which are unarguably top ten heavyweights. i foresee gonzaga taking that one and soon stepping up against lesnar after the big prick loses an arm to nog in ufc 100.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 06:19
Hey.... cp reported that gonzaga had been fired
Sun, 12/21/08 - 06:23
Gabe Gonzaga takes this he has better stand up and jui-jitsu wrestling is about even. Carwin will probably be the favorite because people can't seem to get off of his nuts. Even though he's only jacked up one tomato can after another.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 08:04
Me = not on the Carwin bandwagon.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 08:23
t-rex Carwin was brought in for Randy so that he could prepare for the Lesnar fight. He also wears 4XL Gloves apparently. Carwin seems like a Brock Lesnar with skill. Like a Brock Lesnar with skill? Brock Lesnar would eat this guys lunch. Brock has had better competiton in his 4 pro fights than Carwin has in all of his.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 08:29
Gonzaga got this, no doubt about it. and i consider lesnar better than carwin.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 08:57
right on, stoked about the Brown-Garcia matchup, Garcia is definatly worthy of a title shot. With the Faber/Pulver bout announced so fast, i was afraid the winner of that matchup would get the next shot at Brown, glad the WEC did right by the nipple twisting amigo. Brock Lesnar would no doubt eat Carwins lunch, plus yours and mine at the same time .. hes a big dude who im sure has a big appetite to boot.
Sun, 12/21/08 - 09:51
Carwin via decision (though I'd like to see Gonzaga win) Marquardt via decision (though I'd like to see Gouveia win) Sakara via KO (Rosholt blocks with his face and looks like Rocky Dennis...related? ) Garcia via TKO (....what? Garcia via TKO)
Mon, 12/22/08 - 05:24
he's looked awesome*
Mon, 12/22/08 - 05:26
Leonard finally got his chance. Since beating the drug rap he's loom awesome. Can't wait to see future WEC champ destroy Brown. He's got awesome jits, and but what he's done to Pulver, some nice hands too.
Mon, 12/22/08 - 08:25
Who's Barry Badrinath? Who's Barry Badrinath? Who's Barry Badrinath? That last Jake Rosholt put me to sleep. Is the UFC's MW division so pathetic that they have to bring this fool in?
Mon, 12/22/08 - 10:45
Shane looks like he can really whoop some ass, but I'm not getting on the bandwagon till he beats Gonzaga. Gonzaga has great jiu-jitsu relative to his size and I just don't know if Shane's going to be able to manhandle him on the ground like he does to everyone else. I kinda feel like a really big guy that's really good at jiu-jitsu is the trump card to freakishly huge wrestlers (shane and brock).
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