by Jeff Mclaughlin

Created on: February 07, 2010

The most exciting aspect of sports in general and specifically Mixed Martial Arts is that anyone has a chance to beat his or her opponent on a given night.  When Shane Carwin faces Brock Lesner that chance is going to be minimal at best. 

Shane Carwin is great fighter and has earned his shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship.  No one can intelligently debate that.  Carwin is a legitimate Heavyweight contender.  His three fights in UFC have ended in the first round by knockout, including his March 2009 defeat of Gabriel Gonzaga who once fought for the UFC Heavyweight belt.  Carwin may even have a title when he faces Lesner.  Carwin matches up well with former champion, Frank Mir, in their upcoming March battle.  Some would argue that a Carwin win over Mir would prove that Carwin can beat Lesner since Mir delivered Lesner the only loss of his MMA career. 

To stop there with the argument is unacceptable.  Wins and losses do not always tell the story.  The fact of that matter is  it was Lesner’s first fight in the UFC and his inexperience showed.  Lesner was beating the stuffing out of Mir when Mir grabbed a leg lock that exposed Lesner’s lack of jiu jitsu knowledge at that point in his career.  Since then Lesner has dramatically improved that aspect of his game and it has shown in his three fights since then.  The evidence was in Lesner’s last fight before his illness when he avenged the only negative mark on his record with Technical Knock Out of Mir. 

The fact that Lesner missed so much training time and lost so much weight due to illness would also lead some to believe that Carwin can beat Lesner.  Being away has only poured fuel on Lesner’s desire to win.  The threat of having something taken away only makes someone like Lesner appreciate and want it even more. Now that Lesner is back to good health, he will train at his best. Carwin will get Lesner’s best shot. 

The strongest argument against Carwin beating Lesner is Lesner himself.  Lesner is one of the most physically imposing humans in sports.  Some athletes have his size.  Some have his strength and power.  Some have his speed.  No fighter has the combination of all of these physical attributes like Lesner.  If the most technically sound fighter in the division, Randy Couture, could not handle Lesner’s athleticism then it is safe to say that no one can.  Not even Carwin.

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