Shane Carwin Shocker: UFC 131 Opponent Named
By Sean Farrell
Former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champ and top contender, Shane Carwin, finally got a fight after months of speculation. Carwin, although not a high profile opponent like he was wanting, meets UFC newcomer and grappling specialist Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131.
UFC 131 is expected to take place June 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos headline the event.
Carwin was expected to fight the winner of Jon Madsen and Mike Russow, who meet Saturday at UFC Fight Night 24, but Carwin confirmed those plans but was told by UFC officials that Einemo specifically requested to fight with him.
Carwin hasn’t fought since July 2010 at UFC 116, when he suffered a second-round submission loss to then UFC champion Brock Lesnar, after almost earning the stoppage victory to become champion in the first. Carwin dominated the first round of the fight but admittedly slowed in the second, which gave Lesnar all the time he needed for the comeback win. Before dropping the fight to Lesnar, Carwin, had gone a perfect 12-0 with 12 first-round stoppages. The UFC victories came over Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain, Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir proving there is tons of TNT in Carwin’s fist.
Carwin had been expected to fight at UFC 131 against Ben Rothwell, but with Rothwell facing an extended recovering time from surgery, officials struggled to find a replacement.
Einemo is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he is a 35-year-old Norwegian who won the 2003 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. He’s fought in Japan for their top organization’s Shooto and the now defunct PRIDE and owns an impressive six first-round stoppage victories, five of which came by submission. His only loss came by decision to current Strikeforce top heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum at PRIDE 31, but the advantage goes to Carwin as his ring rust won’t be a factor because Einemo hasn’t fought professionally in four and a half years.