Breaking News: Brock Lesnar pulls out of UFC 106 Title defense

[liftsiron]

posted by ch40s on WCBB


Breaking News: Brock Lesnar pulls out of UFC 106 Title defense
Brock Lesnar pulls out of UFC 106 title defense with Shane Carwin due to illness
by Dann Stupp on Oct 26, 2009 at 4:05 pm ET
An illness has forced UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) out of the UFC 106 main event and a planned title fight with Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports, and a source within Carwin's camp confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) they were aware of the change.

According to the report, which stated Lesnar has been sick and unable to train for nearly a month, the UFC has not determined a replacement fight to headline the show, which takes place Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

UFC 106 is one of the deeper cards of the year with former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin slotted in the night's co-main event. The bout could take the top spot if a suitable replacement fight can't be booked.

The scrapped main event was supposed to serve as Lesnar's first title defense since unifying the UFC's heavyweight belts with a UFC 100 win over then-interim champ Frank Mir. Lesnar won the title with a November 2008 victory over then-champ Randy Couture.

Carwin, meanwhile, looked to claim his 12th straight win at UFC 106. The 34-year-old has yet to fight longer than two minutes and 11 seconds in any bout. He had posted swift UFC victories over Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain and Gabriel Gonzaga to earn the title shot.

While his resume surely warrants title consideration, Carwin helped his case in landing the title shot by publicly criticizing Lesnar's controversial post-fight comments following UFC 100. Following a rant in which Lesnar scoffed at fans and UFC sponsors alike, Carwin hit social networking sites and conducted many interviews in which he condemned the actions of the former WWE superstar.

Soon after news of the cancellation came out, Carwin posted a simple message on his Twitter account: "Very disappointing."

And though his camp is aware of the change, Carwin hinted in a later posting that he heard the same way most fans did.

"It's [disappointing] hearing about your career and life through the media," he wrote. "Nothing from the [bosses] yet."

[liftsiron]

UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to Yahoo! Sports. White said Lesnar has been ill for more than three-and-a-half weeks and unable to train. With the bout at UFC 106 less than a month away, Lesnar was forced to postpone the title defense.

“He said he’s never been this sick in his life,” White said. “He said it’s been going on for a long time and he just hasn’t been able to shake it.”

White said he does not know if Lesnar had the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu.

The fight matches two of the biggest and most powerful heavyweights in the UFC. Lesnar (4-1), a former World Wrestling Entertainment star, was a junior college and NCAA Division I wrestling champion. Carwin is a former Division II national wrestling champion.

Both men weigh around 295 pounds and cut weight to make the heavyweight division’s 265-pound limit.

Carwin (11-0), who made several appearances in Los Angeles on Saturday to promote the fight, was clearly disappointed at getting the news.

“My heart just sank, as you can imagine,” Carwin told Yahoo! Sports upon hearing the news about the fight postponement.

The UFC announced Monday afternoon it will move the previously scheduled Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin fight, a rematch of an epic 2006 contest won by Ortiz on a controversial split decision, into the Nov. 21 main event slot

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article that appeared on Yahoo! Sports on Oct. 26.

[Thate]

I wonder how that event was selling? Brock was spotted having a good time at a Vicks game recently so the illness is in question.

[USNCTT]

I want lesner and bobby lashly to fight lol

[Thate]

lesnar would wreck lashley in the first if they fought right now, he still looks like shit on his feet.

[USNCTT]

lesnar would wreck lashley in the first if they fought right now, he still looks like shit on his feet.

Hey lashley took out bob sapp lol. I just wanna see two big ass dudes drop bombs on eachothe lol

[Deacon]

being in this area of the country (2 hours or so from Brock) it's understandable - what is going around up here right now takes forever to kick once you have it

[workingout]

I heard he had Diverticulitis and it almost ended his career. He is supposedly training again.

[black7]

he returned

[workingout]

Thats what my bro said, he saw him training???

[black7]

YEP GETTING READY TO FIGHT

[Rocky07]

i hope somebody kicks his ass lol. i like lesnar-he seems like a good guy and all but i wanna see someone just anihilate him. i hate the way he fights-wrestlers in MMA just make for a shitty fight most of the time. they work on controlling their oppenent most of the time instead of using to jiu jitsu and "flowing" with their opponent. to me when lesnar is on the ground id almost rather watch ballet.

[Rocky07]

i hope somebody kicks his ass lol. i like lesnar-he seems like a good guy and all but i wanna see someone just anihilate him. i hate the way he fights-wrestlers in MMA just make for a shitty fight most of the time. they work on controlling their oppenent most of the time instead of using jiu jitsu and "flowing" with their opponent. to me when lesnar is on the ground id almost rather watch ballet.

[workingout]

I like controlling my opponent it frustrates them, then they make a mistake. Next thing they know is they are taping out or knocked out.

[Rocky07]

controlling your opponent is a good thing but he doesnt do it for submissions. i mean i can control all of my opponents and most of the time i already know what their next move is gonna be but i never hold them down. if they wanna move i let them move and i go for the next closest submission. there are submissions from EVERY position whether its a dominant position or not. an old BJJ black belt once said that fighting with an expert at jiu jitsu is like fighting with an empty jacket--he was sayin that if the other guy pushes u dont push back, u pull him. if he pulls back, u push him(follow him/whatever the case is) but u dont oppose his move u just move with it. once i learned to stop holdin people down and keep them in one spot i not only opened my eyes to a whole new window of grappling but i started kickin ass--like it was easy! brock lesnar is just a "ground & pounder"...those knees to the ribs hurt and those 4XL hands hittin u in the mouth look brutal but over all he looks boring. if frank mir were his size or chuck liddell or anderson silva, theyd beat the hell out of him hands down!...im not talkin smack tho this is just my opinion but hes more like a big ass bouncer than an MMA fighter and his size definitely out weighs his skill!!