UFC Heavyweight Title Fight
Brock Lesnar (5-1) RD 2 SUB (Arm-triangle) Shane Carwin (12-1)
Official time of the submission: 2:19 in round two
For all the popularity enjoyed by UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, respect for the 5-1 behemoth was maybe a tad bit slow to come by. For many, Lesnar’s short history within the sport was a major hindrance to his accreditation as a champion. After all, though having captured the title in only his fourth professional MMA fight, many pointed to his lack of name competition as the reason they were slow to give credit to his accomplishments.
This is why many, including myself, were quick to pick Shane Carwin to win Saturday night’s mega-fight against Lesnar. Not that Carwin has beaten a Murder’s Row in his twelve previous opponents, but one cannot front on the fact that this man was not only as big and strong as Lesnar, but he was dominating his opposition. Plus, heading into Saturday night’s battle you had to have a level of concern to the cage rust that was surly to have accumulated on Lesnar following his extended hiatus from the Octagon following his near fatal bout with diverticulitis last year.
Once the first round was underway my pick of Carwin seemed like a lesson in genius as Lesnar was battered, blooded, and bullied by the 5XL hands of Carwin. Lesnar looked like he was headed to a loss of astounding proportions as Carwin took punched the living hell out of the UFC champion. While the beating that Carwin put on Lesnar in the first round would have landed me in the ICU, the man-mountain that is Lesnar was able to weather the onslaught of punches to survive the round. Carwin, who clearly was gasses from throwing roughly a million punches, bravely came out for the second round only to being taken down by Lesnar, who then quickly did the unthinkable and sunk in an arm-triangle choke that ended Carwin’s hopes of walking out of the cage with the title.
“This isn’t about me tonight,” said Lesnar in the post-fight interview. “This is about my family. This is about my doctors. This is about my training partners, my training staff. I am blessed by God. Ladies and gentleman, I stand before you a humble champion. And I’m still the toughest SOB around, baby.”
Carwin was gracious in defeat saying, “Brock’s a tough son of a bitch, man. He took that ground-and-pound like nobody else. I tightened up. My hat’s off to him. He’s the champion. I fell down the mountain, but I’ll climb back up.”
Arguably, the most impressive performance of Lesnar’s rally was his ability to remain cool under pressure that would end the night of most heavyweights. Not only was Lesnar able to prevent the fight from being stopped in the first round, he looked at least ten times fresher in the second than Carwin. Call it a testament to the champion mentality that Lesnar often brags about. It was an impressive performance, one that will undoubtedly boost his stock amongst fans and media types alike.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
