Carwin out of UFC 125 fight v Big Country.

MrStuffins

A back injury and expected surgery have forced Shane Carwin (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) out of his UFC 125 co-main-event fight with fellow heavyweight Roy Nelson (15-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

After dealing with back pain, the former title challenger underwent an MRI on Monday that detected an injury that "may really require surgery," he wrote on his official website, shane-carwin.com.

UFC officials have not announced his withdrawal from the UFC 125 card, which takes place Jan. 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Carwin vs. Nelson was slated as the co-headliner behind a lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard, which airs on pay-per-view.

With ample time available, UFC officials likely will find a replacement for Carwin. Theoretically, UFC 121 fighters Brock Lesnar (who lost his title to Cain Velasquez) and Brendan Schaub (who defeated Gabriel Gonzaga) are options. So, too, is Frank Mir, who's coming off a September win over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.

"If the doctors do not have to perform surgery, then I will be out eight to 12 weeks," Carwin wrote. "If they do have to perform surgery, I do not know how long I will be out of action.

"I was really looking forward to fighting again, and obviously, this is a very disappointing turn of events."

Carwin stated that he struggled with the decision but ultimately decided he needs to be fully healthy to compete in the UFC.

"This is a hard decision but the right one, and I hope Team Carwin can stand by me through this period of my career," he wrote. "No one wants to get me back to winning more than me. I just need to be healthy to do it."

Carwin hasn't fought since UFC 116, when he suffered a second-round submission loss to then-heavyweight champ Lesnar. Carwin nearly ended the fight in the first round with a vicious barrage of punches, but Lesnar survived and then capitalized on a quickly fading Carwin to secure a fight-ending arm-triangle choke. Prior to the loss, the former interim champ had posted 12 consecutive wins, all of which came via first-round stoppage.

Like Carwin, Nelson also looks to rebound from a recent high-profile loss. The former IFL champion won "The Ultimate Fighter 10," which he entered as a heavy favorite, by knocking out Brendan Schaub in the finale. He then posted a 39-second knockout of Stefan Struve. But in a fight that UFC president Dana White said would earn the winner a title shot, Nelson dropped a decision to fast-rising Junior Dos Santos at UFC 117.

Who'd y'all reckon will replace him?

pablohoney87

MrStuffins wrote: »

Who'd y'all reckon will replace him?

The obvious replacement is Frank Mir.

Niall0

Ya Mir probably makes the most sense.

DrPhilG

Didn't Dana say after 121 that he thought Lesnar would be back sooner rather than later? :eek:

MrStuffins

DrPhilG wrote: »

Didn't Dana say after 121 that he thought Lesnar would be back sooner rather than later? :eek:

I'd have thought Brock v Nelson would be a good match up, but that cut on his face was pretty nasty! I really doubt Brock would be able to train sufficiently to fight again on Jan 1st.......... maybe i'm wrong though.

dunkamania

Mir vs Lesnar III would be a bigger matchup,(ppv numers) than any match containing Nelson, and one of the other two.

scudzilla

No way will Lesnar fight, it's just over 8 weeks away, he's just lost his title and has a HUGE cut on his face.

scudzilla

Just posted from Nelson's Twitter

Just woke up some one told me about shane not going to past the drug test, or he was scared to fight because of my... http://fb.me/H854lxgQ


Ouch, guess he aint too happy

Username37

The HW division is depressing right now.

Lesnar v Nelson
winner fights Mir
winner of that fights Velasquez/Junior Dos Santos

Is probably the best route right now. UFC need to sign some heavyweights!

Raekwon

I'd like to see Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira get a shot at Nelson. Big Nog's only two losses in the UFC have come against Mir & Velasquez in title eliminator fights and I personally think that he deserves another crack at a top contender for the right to fight for the title.

Username37

Username37 wrote: »

Is probably the best route right now. UFC need to sign some heavyweights!

Specifically Ubereem and Fedor. Imagine the match ups!
Ubereem-Carwin or Ubereem-JDS would be awesome.
Cain V Fedor too.

SanoVitae

Raekwon wrote: »

I'd like to see Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira get a shot at Nelson. Big Nog's only two losses in the UFC have come against Mir & Velasquez in title eliminator fights and I personally think that he deserves another crack at a top contender for the right to fight for the title.

I can't see Nog vs Velasquez going any differently than their first fight. Plus, Dos Santos will never fight his mentor Nog.

I wouldn't be surprised if the UFC fed Nog to Lesnar, though they'll probably look to hype up a rubber match with Mir while its still a lucrative match-up.

dunkamania

scudzilla wrote: »

Just posted from Nelson's Twitter

Just woke up some one told me about shane not going to past the drug test, or he was scared to fight because of my... http://fb.me/H854lxgQ

I believe Carwin tweeted : Roy (Nelson) and my (Engineering) boss are the only ones happy about this."

weemcd

Would fear for Nog if he was thrown right back into the deep end in fighting lesnar, would be a third loss in a row for him imo and probably retire him from the ufc, most likely joining another organisation. If he is fully fit I think he should get the fight that was scheduled with mir he had to drop out of, with the winner of that taking on lesnar.

UFC do stand to make alot of money for mir - lesnar 3, so perhaps that ones is a done deal with nelson - nog the other potential match up with Carwin sidelined.

Get those fights over along with Cain - JDS (clear win for Cain) then throw Overeem into the mix pls!

Ian Whelan

I don't think there is any possibility of Lesnar taking that fight after sustaining that sort of cut. It's got to be Mir. Chris Tuchscherer or Cheick Kongo could also be asked to step up.

Username37

Ian Whelan wrote: »

I don't think there is any possibility of Lesnar taking that fight after sustaining that sort of cut. It's got to be Mir. Chris Tuchscherer or Cheick Kongo could also be asked to step up.

Cheick Kongo, the most frustrating fighter I've ever watched. Goes and nearly beats the current heavyweight champion and then draws with a nobody.

With Carwin and Lesnar out things look extremely bleak.

DeVore

If Cain murders JDS its going to look even bleaker. Attracting Fedor (who is aging) to the UFC so that he can (potentially) end his days at Cains feet isnt a great sell... :rolleyes:


DeV.

MrStuffins

Also, saying "The UFC hasnt got many great Heavyweights" and the like is a big unfair as there aren't that many outside the UFC either.

Fedor obviously, and i'd love to see Overeem have a go. But i've said it before, Overeem's standing as a Top 10 HW isn't automatic. He's never beaten a Top 10 HW... ever! He needs to be tested!

Werdum is good but was very disappointing in HIS stint in the UFC and there's no denying it!

The MMA Heavyweight scene is almost as bad as the Boxing Heavyweight scene at the moment....... but not quite!

EDIT: Also, this is what happens in a sport like MMA. In Boxing, you can have 5 or 6 contenders all dodging each other and never fighting. People will ask "Who's the best" etc.

In MMA (the UFC) you find out who's best! A few months ago people were raving about the HW division. Lesnar, Carwin, Cain, JDS, a revitalised Mir, Big Country......... all of these guys are still around, but once they fight each other, some lose..... and it makes people forget they are the same guys they were excited about a few months ago.

Professey Chin

Mirkos after throwing his name into the hat for this and apparently Nelson likes the idea

Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic says he hasn’t been approached about a fight with Roy Nelson at UFC 125, but would probably be interested if the UFC wanted to make it. Nelson was due to fight Shane Carwin at the January 1st event but Carwin pulled out earlier today citing a back injury.

“I know nothing about it, this is the first I heard of it. But it would be an interesting fight for sure,“ he told Fighters Only earlier. “I think Roy’s style matches very well with mine, we could have a good fight. I didn’t hear anything from the UFC yet, but lets see if they call me.”

With two months until the January event goes down, any replacement is guaranteed a full training camp and CroCop is already back in training anyway following his loss to Frank Mir at UFC 119.

He has had treatment for a herniated disc since the fight and has also taken up pilates. He says the benefits have been almost immediate. Kicking had been giving him back pain in recent months but in his sessions since the Mir fight he says the kicks have been “perfect” and pain-free.

Nelson is coming off a loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 117 while Filipovic is coming off the second KO loss of his UFC career; he ate a knee from Frank Mir in the dying moments of their fight at UFC 119. Both Nelson and CroCop are 1-1 in their last two.

Link1

“I wonder if Lorenzo [Fertitta] is going to call Cro Cop to see if he wants to fight, he is [a] legend and has done some great things, would love the challenge, but as everybody knows I just like to fight the best and the challenges that it brings.”

Yesterday, Roy Nelson's original opponent pulled out of their UFC 125 Co-Main event with a back injury. Almost instantly the Croation super star, Mirko Cro Cop, threw out an offer via fightersonly.com to Nelson and the UFC to put him in. Fast forward to today and Mr. Nelson releases the above statement accepting the challenge. The only person left yet to agree are the people behind the scenes at the UFC. I say, make this fight happen!

Link2

scudzilla

As far as i can see there's only 4 opponents they could put him with

Randy, Mir, CroCop or straight into a title fight with Cain

Not much has been said of this but Dana has said there will be a huge announcement on Thursday (Today). Could that be the second title fight added to the New Years Card??

Tones69

Username37 wrote: »

Cheick Kongo, the most frustrating fighter I've ever watched. Goes and nearly beats the current heavyweight champion and then draws with a nobody.

With Carwin and Lesnar out things look extremely bleak.

Hit him with 2 good punches then got totally dominated the rest of the fight, but i agree kongo is very on/off fighter and can be frustrating to watch, he really had the beatings of browne in that fight 2 weeks ago