Carwin Falls in Second Round of UFC 116
7/3/2010 11:19:52 PM
LAS VEGAS - Shane Carwin dominated in the first round, but fell victim to an arm triangle choke 2 minutes and 19 seconds into the second round and was forced to tap out to Brock Lesnar in the UFC Heavyweight Unification bout tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“My hats off to him,” Carwin said in interviews right after the match. “He’s the champion. I fell down the mountain but I’ll climb back up. I thought I had enough space to breathe and keep working beside him.”
It’s Carwin’s first loss in his mixed martial arts career as he moves to 12-1.He held advantages in power strikes throws (78-to-2) and control on the ground (2:35-to-1:30), most of it coming in the first round.
The fight was postponed twice and eventually canceled last fall after Lesnar came down with an intestinal illness. Since that time, Carwin was able to pick up the interim heavyweight title with a knockout win against Frank Mir at UFC 111 in March.
Carwin was the 1999 Division II heavyweight wrestling champion and a two-time runner-up for the Mountaineers, as well as a two-time football All-American. He was a member of the 2004 Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame class and entered the RMAC Hall of Fame last Saturday. Carwin was also named the second-best defensive player in the first 100 years of RMAC football last year during the conference's centennial celebration.