• UFC 116

Lesnar & Carwin left with more questions than answers

Shane Carwin punched himself out at UFC 116 © UFC

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UFC 116 was the setting for the biggest heavyweight bout in the organization's history, with Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin finally squaring off inside the Octagon.

Carwin went into the showdown having never set foot outside of the first round, winning all twelve bouts with an average fight length time of 108 seconds. The question on everybody's lips, was would Carwin be able to keep the pace in a championship encounter? In fact, would he even be able to keep the pace into a second round? The question was answered on Saturday, with a resounding no.

Carwin came out for the first and delivered a vintage performance by his standards, forcing Lesnar into retreat mode before a barrage of shots sent the champion stumbling to the ground. He then followed with a similar kind of ground attack that saw off Frank Mir in March.

Lesnar took a lot of heavy blows and, for one moment, found himself just laying still and covering up. It was for that split second that the fight could have been on the verge of being stopped as referee Josh Rosenthal moved in for a closer look. Fortunately for Lesnar, he did just enough to show Rosenthal that, while he was taking some serious punishment, he wasn't done yet. Working his way out of danger, Lesnr saw out the round and sent Carwin somewhere he had never been before - towards the wooden stool on the opposite side of the cage.

As the corners did their jobs, both men were looking tired. Lesnar told his corner he was 'good', but Carwin looked exhausted, deflated and appeared to be shaking his head before standing back up for his first ever second round. You can understand why Carwin would have felt that way. He threw everything he had at Lesnar, using a vast amount of energy in the process.

In essence, it was at that point that the fight was all over, leaving big question marks over both fighters.

In the opening exchanges, Lesnar appeared to throw a right hand and then immediately covered up. It was as if he initially wanted a taste of what he was up against but then immediately changed his mind. When you are in with a striker of Carwin's capabilities there is no room for indecision.

During Carwin's assault from the top, the champion also appeared to have very little game-plan from his back, and at one point his simple covering up tactic could have, and with another referee may have, cost him his championship belt. Knowing Carwin's past, Lesnar would have been expected to develop more of a strategy than to just 'weather the storm'.

Carwin, on the other hand, allowed the adrenaline to take over and punched himself out. On one or two occasions he should have stepped back and allowed the dazed Lesnar back to his feet for a second helping. But instead, Carwin chose to go all out for another first-round finish. You can feel for Carwin in that respect, as he had his man hurt and appeared to be on the verge of taking the heavyweight title. With such confidence in his hands, fueled by his devastating knockout record, how could anybody have expected Carwin not to have gone in for the kill?

Lesnar proved his chin was up to the task, and it was he who showed the greater stamina and wider skill set as he pulled off the surprising, yet perfectly executed, submission victory. While it is very easy to point out the holes in either man's games, it should be noted that this was still only the sixth fight of Lesnar's professional career. As he showed in his second fight with Mir and with this victory over Carwin, he is developing his game with every fight.

As for Carwin, training can build up the stamina to deal with a full day of sparring or a ten-mile run. However, only experience in rounds two, three and beyond can build the stamina to deal with the championship rounds and the adrenaline of a capacity MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Chris Park is mmatorch.com's UK specialist. Click here to read original article.

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