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Written By: Lyle “Turkish” Thomaschek for In Da Clinch: http://www.facebook.com/people/In-Da-Clinch/100001076003884
As MMA fight fans anxiously countdown the hours before Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin stand in the center of the Octagon and smash gloves, there are questions and thoughts that enter my mind. I begin to question myself and what I truly think of Brock Lesnar. I think about his career and pause for a moment. Wait; let me try this again ... Hmmm.. It surprises me that I no longer see a vision of a cartoon-like man standing in the middle of a professional wrestling ring yelling at the top of his lungs for his so-called enemy to join him in a mock battle. I mean no disrespect to professional wrestling, but I now see Brock as guy who has done a tremendous job at performing his own extreme make-over. Lesnar has made it his business to bring down the hammer, smash his former self, modify his personality and refine his skills as a professional athlete. The transformation could be nearing completion as we begin to see a mixed martial artist emerge from the dust and smoke. He is making the changes that are necessary in order for his transition to be a true success – Believable if you will. Is he a finished piece of work? Of course he’s not, but Brock leapt from his career as a professional wrestler to MMA and landed on the center stage of the sport’s most respected proving grounds – The UFC’s Octagon. Over the last few years, he has literally punched his way into this sport and continues to make believers out of his most hardcore critics. Now, maybe you are reading this and saying to yourself that my thoughts and ideas are old news because Brock won you over by merely showing up to his first fight in the UFC, but for me, it has taken a lot more. Since deciding to take this path, it has been a very long road of rejection for Brock as many long-time MMA fight fans, like me, felt that this wrestling character had no right thinking that he could make it in the UFC. Why? Because we know that it takes more than a tough-guy persona and a few hundred laboratory grown muscles to make it here. When Lesnar took his first fight and loss in the UFC back in 2008 against former Heavyweight Campion Frank Mir, many of us pointed our fingers in the faces of Brock fans and shouted out with glee – “I told you so!” Fast forward from that initial loss to the present and after winning a decision against Heath Herring, strong arming MMA Legend Randy Couture, bulldozing through Frank Mir in their second meeting and most recently overcoming a serious illness, Brock can point back at us and say that “HE told US so”, to which I would humbly reply – “Yes you did, Brock and now I understand”.
Enter Shane Carwin. My mind is now filled with thoughts of two fists attached to the arms of a man that has managed to end twelve of twelve fights in the first round. He walks around undefeated and has never fought beyond the 1st round – Sorry, had to say that twice. That being said, I try to imagine how Shane Carwin really feels as his fight against Brock Lesnar grows closer. Interviews, trailers and other forms of pre-fight hype aside - Is he feeling like the perfect fighting machine that his record says he is? Does he look back at each of the opponents that he has defeated and try to draw any similarities between them and Brock? Has he seen the transformation and development of Brock into an MMA fighter that others have witnessed? Does he think that he will do to Brock what he has done to all of his opponents in the past? Of course he does and fight fans assume that Shane has already set his mind on the obvious way that he's going to do it. We all know for certain that he will be going in that Octagon and he is going to attempt to knock Brock out as quickly as possible – Which for Carwin, as quickly as possible literally translates to the first round. That would surely get the job done quickly and efficiently and everyone would be satisfied. They will say that he is the best of the best and truly earned his money and Championship Title. Well, I would like to think that on Saturday July 3rd Shane Carwin will be more creative than that. I’d like to imagine that he is planning to go against the obvious fight plan and mix it up with his skills as a grappler. He earned himself numerous wrestling titles in college and I would be impressed to see him shoot in and attempt to score a take-down on Brock, who is also an accomplished college wrestler. Lesnar most certainly must think that Carwin wouldn’t be so bold. Maybe by doing what most spectators would consider to be a ballsy move - Even foolish in some circles – Carwin, in my opinion, would solidify his place at the top of the Heavyweight Division with a game plan that includes diversity. Take Brock to the mat and rain down the fists of fury that have won you your last twelve fights and earned you 7 KO’s, Shane. Have the confidence in your abilities as a Mixed Martial artist, take advantage of the ring rust that Brock will spend the first few minutes of the fight trying to scrape off and show him that he may need to diversify his own game plan. Carwin, who has proclaimed that he is indeed the better athlete in this fight and is the current holder of the Interim Heavyweight Title has had victories over Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir. In his fight against Mir, Carwin showed that his fists must be respected. In fact, they should probably be registered as potentially lethal weapons, if they aren’t already. Both Gonzaga and Mir plus Carwin’s 10 other past opponents were all worthy in their own right, but none of them bring what Lesnar brings to the fight, which to me can be best described as pure, uncut, raw athletic talent. Talent that happens to be wrapped up in a man whose heart, desire to win and very physical presence demands that you recognize or get lumped up. This just happens to be Carwin’s MO as well, so this promises to be all of the fight that we are expecting to see and then some. Two of the best athletes in MMA meet at UFC 116. Have we finally got the fight of the year on our horizon? I certainly hope so.
My Prediction: Carwin stays true to his most successful formula and does not deviate from the expected plan of going toe-to-toe with Lesnar. Brock, who is unable to shake off the rust accumulated from his significant time away from the Octagon, cannot avoid Shane’s relentless punching style and power. Brock Lesnar is KO’d in the 2nd minute of the 1st round.
