UFC 131: Lesnar out- Carwin In

Brock Lesnar has officially pulled out of his UFC 131 title contender bout with Junior dos Santos. The news came after Lesnar had another violent flare from his ongoing battle with diverticulitis.
Lesnar had surgery in November 2009 to recover from a flare from the intestinal disease that hospitalized him and left him near death. The surgery was a temporary fix. Lesnar opted for the fix over the treatment because treatment requires detaching a portion of his colon and reattaching it.
The former heavyweight champ assured fans that this would not be the end of his fighting career.
In for Lesnar is former UFC Interim-Heavyweight Champion, Shane Carwin. Carwin’s last fight was a loss to Lesnar at UFC 116 in Lesnar’s comeback from his first battle with diverticulitis. The fight began exciting, with Lesnar fans on the edge of their seats, worried no doubt. Carwin unleashed barrage after barrage of his toaster-sized hands. Lesnar managed to hang on, and an exciting first round came to a close. Carwin, clearly gassed, and not ready for a five-round fight (rightfully so, he had finished everyone of his opponents prior) was outmatched in the second round and succumbed to an arm triangle choke from the champion.
Even with the loss, Carwin’s supporters were encouraged. The conditioning problems were obvious for the 36-year-old engineer, but he showed intense power in the first round. Raw power cannot be taught, but a fighter can run miles and miles every day.

The matchup between dos Santos, better known as JDS, and Carwin isn’t as intriguing as many think. What it seems is that here are two impressive knockout artists, and there is going to be a war on the feet in the Octagon.
Maybe not completely untrue, as they are both excellent at finishing fights, but there will be no war on June 11. The best possible matchup for Carwin has already happened, Lesnar. Two wrestlers, both with the ability to end the fight with a (T)KO, and both possessing the biggest hands in the UFC, that’s as good as its going to get for Carwin.
Throwing Carwin into the cage on two weeks notice after preparing for some guy whose name resembles Elmo? This is a terrible idea for Carwin. He wants to get back into the title picture, but he is rushing into it too soon. One loss removed from the title race, and with one loss total, the former interim-heavyweight champ has plenty of time to get his name back into the pot.
As for JDS, he could not be a happier man. The trash talk and flying hatred that is supposed to exist on The Ultimate Fighter has been non-existent between he and Lesnar. The most flak on the show has been thrown between dos Santos and his own trainer, Lew Polley. It is nice to see Lesnar not trash-talking the foreigner who has broken English, and improves his image to most, but it hasn’t seemed like the fight between the two has been on for a while now. This is no conspiracy theory; it’s just that it wouldn’t have been a very interesting fight, much as dos Santos-Carwin won’t be.
Junior dos Santos is one of the better strikers in the UFC. He doesn’t quite have the insane knockout power of Carwin or Velasquez, but he is as technical as Lyoto Machida. A scary thought, a heavyweight that can counterstrike like the shadow that is Lyoto Machida. This fight will be quickly decided, as the taller, better fighter, dos Santos will slowly pick apart his opponent.
The fight will be as artistic as any, and one of the best of the year for those who appreciate the technicality of the sport. For the many bloodthirsty UFC fans looking for a scrap fest, they might have to look elsewhere. The operative word here is might. This could be a barnburner, where we could see either guy rip the other’s head off (maybe take an ear too ala Tyson) and throw it into the crowd. That would certainly please Mr. White. Look for this fight to end early as dos Santos cruises to a second round knockout. Even JDS said so.