The UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar twice has delayed a UFC heavyweight title defense against no.1 contender Shane Carwin. The first bout was scheduled for UFC 106 in November, but it was postponed after Lesnar was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Their fight was rescheduled for UFC 108 in January, but is now on hold indefinitely after Lesnar was diagnosed with the more serious condition.
On November 16th, Lesnar underwent surgery in order to close a perforation in his intestine that had been leaking fecal matter into his abdomen which caused pain, abscesses and it began overworking his immune system. Lesnar is now recovering from a severe case of diverticulitis, a common digestive disease often found in the large intestine. Diverticulitis develops from diverticulosis, which involves the formation of pouches (diverticula) on the outside of the colon. Diverticulitis results if one of the pouches becomes inflamed. If the infection were to spread to the lining of the abdominal cavity, it could cause a potentially fatal inflammation.
Although there is no official date for his Octagon return, Lesnar continues to work hard on on his path to recovery and is eager to get right back into training but his coach Greg Nelson wants him to take some time off to heal adequately.
In the meantime, what will the top UFC heavyweights fighters do as they many of them continue to work hard for a shot at the title. In the eyes of Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, the only fair thing to do at this point is to organize an interim heavyweight title until Lesnar is 100% ready to make his return. So where does Cain Velasquez stand if this would actually happen? Nothing is official yet, but here are some thoughts discussed by Shane Carwin and Frank Mir if they were to fight…
From Shane Carwin:
“A win like Frank had last night surely propels him to share the top of the division…The main question I am getting is would I fight Frank? The answer is easy YES. I am not a fighter who decides who he fights, I fight who I am told to fight. I like it that way, I am not trying to build a legacy I am trying to fight the best fighters in the World and determine where I fit in. Mir is a Multiple time Champion, who has been counted out more then Mike Tyson to only find himself right back at the top. He is a LEGEND of the sport and I would be honored to fight him.”
From Frank Mir:
“I couldn’t argue against that…Carwin is a phenomenal match-up, and I think if I can’t fight Brock again to show that I’ve made improvements against that style, I think Shane Carwin is a more than an ample substitution. If anything, I think he’s a better version.”
