Western State College of Colorado

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin has been broken down, analyzed, and criticized by nearly every writer in the industry. It is known that both are tremendous athletes with incredible size, mobility, and wrestling pedigree.

In 1999, Carwin was the Division II National Champion and in 2000, Brock Lesnar was the Division I National Champion. Carwin was an All-American football player while in college, and Lesnar tried out for the Minnesota Vikings and, had it been a team with less depth at defensive tackle, he likely would have been in the NFL.

In my memory, there hasn't been a heavyweight title fight with such similar fighters pitted against one another.

Both love to work quickly and control the fight. With Brock, it is with intense takedowns and with Carwin, it is with octagon control with his opponent pressed against the cage. Their MMA success stems beyond just being giant athletes. Both are well-controlled fighters who are accustomed to being at the top level of everything they put their mind to.

Brock Lesnar
Brock is possibly the most intimidating heavyweight in MMA history.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic may have hurt his opposition's confidence while standing across the ring, but nobody opens up a fight like Lesnar. Brock has no nerves as he enters the octagon because of his experience.

You cannot win an NCAA Division I National Championship if you still get nervous before your matches.

I've spoken with successful MMA fighters who have won National Championships in the past, and they still say that those matches have been the most important in their life. Despite UFC fights being nationally televised, the nerves going through a wrestler on the day of his National Championship match are greater. They train their whole lives for that moment, so stepping into the octagon may actually be a step down on the mental side.

Brock will look to strike to set up his takedowns. He has under-rated technical strikes with the ability to drive his opponent backward and take advantage of them being flat-footed. Once they are flat-footed, the takedown is much easier to achieve. A flat-footed fighter protecting his face cannot have the reaction time to stop a shot with his hands, forearm, head, or hips, the four ways to stuff a takedown.

Once Brock gets it to the ground, his superb hip control can keep him in a strong position. Keeping opponents down is critical in college wrestling as riding time is awarded for each minute you are in control. Lesnar has always been great at this, and it naturally transitions into his top control in MMA.

Shane Carwin
Carwin's skill set as a wrestler is a bit different than Lesnar's. He seldom looks for the takedown but looks for underhook control to move his opponent around and put himself into a good position.

Shane uses his pummeling and ability to get inside his opponent to maneuver them around the octagon. This is very similar to how a Greco-Roman wrestler pummels for control in order to take his opponent down, since in that particular style you cannot use your legs.

The Greco-Roman style has been used in MMA successfully for years. Most notably, Dan Henderson and Randy Couture use their Olympic-caliber Greco style to force their will on opponents.

Carwin's ability to strike in that position sets him apart from these two, despite having less wrestling credentials than both Couture and Henderson. Although his strikes are raw compared to both from a technical standpoint, they are much more powerful even against bigger competition.

Shane's strength advantage over nearly every opponent makes a difference as well, but he won't have one on Saturday night.

Shane will have to block off Lesnar's strikes and defend the takedown almost simultaneously. As previously noted, this is a very tough task.

Carwin's defense has yet to be tested in MMA against a wrestler of Lesnar's caliber, but given his skill-set he should be able to stop most of Brock's takedown attempts. Once he stuffs the takedown, he should end up with underhook control and except if Lesnar is able to pummel out, Carwin will force him to the cage.

Overview
Unless a first round knockout occurs, which is obviously possible with these two behemoths, whomever wrestles better should come out the victor.

Brock has a better pedigree and stronger takedowns, but Carwin's style transitions better for heavyweights in MMA, in my opinion. If that proves to be true, neither enters with a clear wrestling advantage in this fight.

While the knockout is what most are looking for, watching and understanding the wrestling side of the fight will be equally as impressive. Each move either fighter makes will have reason and thought behind it, and pitting two of the top wrestlers in the division should lead to an extremely entertaining title fight.