UFC 131 – Clash of Some Titans

Junior Dos Santos vs Shane Carwin

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 131 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada will be the second consecutive event that the card has been changed because of injuries. However, UFC 130 had both main event fighters, Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard, pull out of the card because of injuries, whereas UFC 131 only has one – Brock Lesnar. As seen from the UFC 131 poster above and the awareness of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community, the original main event was going to be the culmination of the thirteenth season of the Ultimate Fighter coaches – Brock Lesnar vs. Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos- fighting or, as the famed referee “Big” John McCarthy has said many times “GET IT ON.” The UFC asked fellow heavyweight, Shane Carwin, if he would be willing to step in to fight Junior Dos Santos in the main event card; Shane willingly agreed to a dream opportunity, he once had but was stopped by his lack of conditioning (even though Brock Lesnar submitted him with an arm-triangle, it was evident that Shane was the superior fight but because of lack of condition and strategy, Brock capitalized and finished him) but now has a chance at redemption fighting in the main event at UFC 131. 


The reason why Brock Lesnar withdrew from the fight was by an opponent that no fighter can submit or knock out. Brock Lesnar did not suffer any injury in his fight preparation; rather he suffered a debilitating illness from a deadly opponent that has made Brock “tap out” (not Frank Mir) in the past called Diverticulitis. This time around, the medical condition “knocked him out cold,” in a sense that he needed to have surgery that had 12-inches of his colon removed and repaired. As a result, he withdrew from the main-event bout and was replaced by the behemoth that is Shane Carwin, whom also had surgery last year to repair back and neck issues and was on the UFC 131 card fighting promotional newcomer – Jon Olav Einemo of Norway. But like that saying goes: “One man’s joy is another man’s sorrow.” In this case, while Brock is in pain, Shane is enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime; as aforementioned, Shane has been in this position before - to be the heavyweight number-one contender and to fight the eventual Heavyweight Champion, if successful, but will his conditioning defeat him again (it’s worth mentioning that with his new nutritionist, he’s slimmed down tremendously) or will the hands of “Cigano” Dos Santos knock the conditioning out of him? The world will find out on June 10th, 2011 in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. Also on the UFC 131 card, there are a few notable fights that are worth watching.

Rogers Center in Beautiful Vancouver

On the preliminary card shown on Facebook/YouTube and Spike TV, there a few fights that are a must see which are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio but as fight fans that do not have access to Spike TV should watch all the “online” fights on Facebook/YouTube. The preliminary fight card shown on Spike TV is Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman and Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards, which should be an entertaining pair of fights leading up to the main card on Pay-Per-View (PPV).

The main card on PPV other than the main event is above average. The bout that is preceding the main event has an interesting story. It is between Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes to decide who will fight Jose Aldo, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, for the belt. It is interesting because Diego Nunes is Jose Aldo’s teammate; meaning that if Diego were to win on June 10th, 2011, then logic says that he will fight his teammate for the belt. But as the MMA community is well aware, most teammates will not fight each other except if it is Jon Jones (who was slated to fight his now former teammate Rashad Evans but pulled out because of an injury). However, Jose Aldo has stated that he will not fight Diego unless the UFC makes him an offer (monetarily speaking) that he simply cannot refuse but until then, it is a NO. Other fights that could be possible fight of night are: Mark Munoz vs. Damian Maia, Daniel Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha and promotional newcomer, Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman. UFC 131 is scheduled for June 11th, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, which will be the return of the UFC (first time was UFC 115 – Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin).