Lesnar Still Dealing With Diverticulitis, Shane Carwin Will Fight Dos Santos At 131

Added on May 12, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Today the UFC held a media conference call and announced that Shane Carwin would be replacing Brock Lesnar at UFC 131 against Junior Dos Santos. Brock Lesnar announced that his diverticulitis had greatly effected his training for his match with Junior, and he needs to step back and focus on health. The one thing Lesnar said over and over again was that this was NOT the end of his mixed martial arts career, and that he has not decided if he would be treated surgically.

This of course monkey wrenches the third season, out of the last four, that the coaches of the UFC reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” will not fight. The show is built around the idea that the team coaches coach younger fighters, and then square off in the octagon. It will be interesting to see how this will effect the ratings of TUF. The UFC brass was counting on this season being a ratings bonanza, and although it has been doing well, it is probably well short of what they were expecting. Now that there is a real possibility that Lesnar may never fight again I am anxious to see the numbers in the next 3 weeks or so.

The change gives new life to former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin. Carwin was set to fight Jon Olav Einemo, but with the upgrade in opponent he will now fight to see who gets the next shot at Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Carwin posted on his web site ( www.shane-carwin.com ) that this isn’t the type of fight one should take on a 30 day notice, and that Junior is very dangerous, but time isn’t on his side for more title shots. Carwin said “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. 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.”

Early odds coming in have Junior Dos Santos coming in at -200, and Carwin coming is coming in at +200. The response from MMA fans is coming in, and most feel this is a more exciting fight. Many felt that Brock Lesnar, a guy who has a questionable chin these days, fighting a dangerous striker like Junior seemed predictable. Now with Carwin and Junior getting in the cage, one could assume fireworks are just matter of weeks until the fight. I will have to pick my jaw off the floor at the end of 131 if this fight goes to the judges.

There is no replacement opponent yet for Einemo, but the card as a whole in my opinion got better:

UFC 131
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Main Card:
Shane Carwin vs. Junior Dos Santos
Mac Danzig vs. Donald Cerrone
Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes

Preliminary Bouts:
Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards
Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman
Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac
Nick Ring vs. James Head
Dave Herman vs. Joey Beltran
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins