UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin Rumored Fight Card

[xtremebadass]

UFC officially announces "UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin" for July 3 in Las Vegas
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 04, 2010 at 4:35 pm ET

The UFC today officially announced "UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin" for July 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the possibility of the event in February, and the UFC removed all doubt today.

The event will feature its namesake participants, as UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) makes his long-awaited return to the cage and defends his title against undefeated interim champion Shane Carwin (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

The main card airs live on pay-per-view.

Tickets for UFC 116, which are priced at $100, $200, $300, $500, $750 and $1,000, go on sale to the general public on Thursday, May 13. Ultimate-level members of the UFC Fight Club can purchase tickets beginning on Tuesday, May 11. UFC.com newsletter subscribers can purchase tickets beginning Wednesday, May 12.

"When people wonder why the heavyweights capture the imagination of all fight fans, it's because of guys like Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin," UFC president Dana White stated in today's release. "Not only are they great athletes and former national wrestling champions, but they both have the ability to end a fight with one punch. This is one of those fights that you won't be able to turn away from because it can be over in a split-second, and when it’s over, only one will walk away as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion of the world."

The heavily anticipated main event is the only official bout for the fight card thus far.

Carwin was scheduled to fight Lesnar twice before – first at UFC 106 in November and then again at UFC 108 in January – but the champ was forced out of both events due to a severe case of the intestinal disorder diverticulitis. The illness was so advanced that doctors at times considered it life-threatening, and Lesnar's fighting future was in jeopardy.

The two fighters – and fans – will certainly hope that the third time is the charm.

While the Lesnar vs. Carwin matchup is the only bout official for UFC 116, the full fight card currently includes:

MAIN CARD
Champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim champ Shane Carwin (heavyweight title-unification bout)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Wanderlei Silva*
Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos*
Nate Marquardt vs. TBA*
Cheick Kongo vs. Roy Nelson*

PRELIMINARY CARD
Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer*
Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski*
Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle*
Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola*
Julio Paulino vs. Daniel Roberts*
Kendall Grove vs. TBA*
Goran Reljic vs. TBA*

That is one HOLY SHIT card

 

[phantomgerald]

The card is absolutely stacked. The entire main card is stacked and I like your highlighted undercard. One peeve I have though is that there is no quality co-main event. Akiyama/Silva is more of a 3rd fight.

 

[xtremebadass]

I feel the same way. Wanderlei can definitely be up for co-main event, but it all depends on who he is facing. Sexyama is not that high on the UFC card yet. Still though, I cannot wait for Akiyama's fight. His fight with Belcher was amazing. In his UFC debut he gets the victory, although controversially, and he also gets FOTN. That will be a year between his fights since his last fight was in July last year at UFC 100, coincidentally same as Lesnar.

 

[phantomgerald]

Exactly. To be honest though, there isn't any middleweights worthy of facing Wanderlei. Marquadt perhaps but not much else.

And Sotiropoulous and Nelson win their last fights, and get a step down in competition? Maybe I'm just nitpicking here but they have nothing to gain from these fights. Put Sotiropoulous against Maynard and Nelson and Dos Santos or Cain.

 

[xtremebadass]

Nelson won both of his last two fights by KO and he gets Kongo? Well if you don't count the TUF win since he wasn't officially in the UFC, Nelson is coming off the win over Struve and Kongo did beat Buentello, so I could somewhat see how that makes sense.

 

[phantomgerald]

Yeah but nobody has found the way to beat Nelson in the UFC yet, while Kongo got humiliated by Mir, who isn't even top 2. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[xtremebadass]

Maybe UFC doesn't want to give Nelson big name HW's yet, it is still only his 2nd fight (not counting TUF win) in the UFC