Shane Carwin’s last Octagon appearance did not go as planned, so the UFC heavyweight knew that it was time to make some changes.
The MMA world last saw Carwin when he was competing for the title against former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. After a first round that had Carwin put a beating on Lesnar until the scrap was inches from being halted by referee Josh Rosenthal, the fight eventuated in a second round submission loss for the challenger.
Carwin came out of his corner when the bell sounded for round two, which was also his first time going beyond the initial frame, and he appeared physically drained and worn down from dealing out his first round onslaught. Lesnar was able to take Carwin down a secure an arm-triangle choke that forced NCAA Division II heavyweight wrestling champion to tap out. Carwin admits the loss irritated him to the point that it was prominent in his dreams, he knew something had to be done about it.
That’s when he made the adjustments.
“I’m working on my diet with Josh Ford of Forged Fuel, now,” Carwin explained. “The diet is really all about eating healthy for recovery and to refuel the body. There’s a lot of fruits and vegetables. The meat is always fish or chicken. He’s done a great job. Some of the other changes made were that I started working with Loren Landow on my strength and conditioning. I have really tried to push my limits. Besides that, all of my coaches stayed the same and they have all done a tremendous job.”
Before Carwin could embark on modifying his training or nutritional habits, the Colorado native had to go under the knife and recover from neck surgery. On Nov. 2, Carwin successfully went through surgery to repair nerve damage and complications with his C5, C6 and C7 discs in his neck which caused a numb sensation in his right hand. The operation, which involved drilling into Carwin’s skull, took four hours to complete and four months to recover from.
After Carwin took the necessary time to mend his wounds from the surgical procedure, he began to rehabilitate his body. Once he was in the proper physical condition to give 100 percent of his effort in the gym, Carwin began training for his original UFC 131 opponent, Jon Olav Einemo.
As he recovered, Shane Carwin (Left) found time to visit the wounded warriors with Tony Jimenez (Middle)of MicroTech and interact with General George W. Casey (Right).
Lesanr and Junior Dos Santos consumed the positions as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 13, but the former UFC champ was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a reoccurrence of the disease that kept him sidelined in 2010, diverticulitis. The fight was deemed a heavyweight title eliminator match, meaning the winner would go on to face champion Cain Velasquez. This turned things upside down for the UFC 131 card in Vancouver, but fortunately the UFC was able to shuffle the other participants on the docket and create a fight between Carwin and Dos Santos.
Carwin and Einemo were planned to be a part of the event to begin with, and since Carwin is only one fight removed from the title scene, having him fill Lesnar’s role was a no-brainer for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva. Carwin realized the stakes had been raised with his new adversary, and was determined that the time away from the gym would affect him, because he trains with the best guys in the sport.
“Preparations for this fight went great,” Carwin said. “I think now that we addressed some of the issues we needed to coming out of the last fight. I feel great. I was at Grudge the whole time and I still train with a bunch of guys that are in the UFC and other top fighters. You see those guys every day, so getting in the Octagon is no different than fighting the guys I spar with.”
Carwin is lucky to have some of MMA’s top heavyweights to train with because the division lacks the talent depth some of the smaller weight divisions encompass. Heavyweight divisions are spread thing in different organizations, and fans generally complain about lackluster fights when the big guys get in the cage, but most people are chalking up Carwin vs. Dos Santos to be a legit, credible heavyweight match.
The NCAA Division II wrestling hall of famer does not agree with the public’s perception that the heavyweight division displays unenthusiastic fights, however Carwin does think his bout against Dos Santos is a sensible fight in terms of matchmaking.
“I think there’s been a lot of great heavyweight fights,” Carwin stated. “We both match up well and we both worked our way to the top of the UFC ladder. This is a great heavyweight fight, with what I think are two exciting heavyweights.”
Carwin is focused on winning this fight against Dos Santos, and earning another title shot, but he is not looking too far into the future. He refuses to look past “Cigano”, and take his eye off the task at hand. Carwin stated that his main goal is defeating Dos Santos, and then celebrating with his family, friends and teammates.
An important figure in that celebration will be Grudge Training Center owner, Trevor Wittman. Carwin feels as Wittman has become somewhat like family, and the UFC heavyweight accredits much of his success to coach T. There is a video of Carwin beating on a defenseless Wittman on the internet, and the two agree that it is a tradition that is carried out at the end of each Carwin camp for fun and a little friendly revenge.
“(Wittman) puts me through pure hell, man,” Carwin said with Wittman standing beside him. “Coach Wittman has become a great friend, but he’s tough on me when he needs to be. This whole thing started three or four fights back and it kind of changes each time. One of the first times he got in the ring to spar with me for two rounds, actually, he sparred with me for one round and he did great, so I made him spar another round with me and I kind of put it on him. It kind of took off from there. But, we do things like that to keep it fun and keep it real.
Now, that Carwin has made the required changes to have a triuphant return to the Octagon, he will look to defeat Dos Santos, before moving on to Velasquez.
“I feel better, I feel healthier and I’m excited to fight,” he said. “I got to take care of business on Saturday, and then I’ll worry about that stuff.”
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