Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:04 pm Posts: 230
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Brock Lesnar pulls out of UFC 106 title defense with Shane Carwin due to illnessAn illness has forced UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) out of the UFC 106 main event and a planned title fight with Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).
The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports, and a source within Carwin's camp confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) they were aware of the change.
According to the report, which stated Lesnar has been sick and unable to train for nearly a month, the UFC has not determined a replacement fight to headline the show, which takes place Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
While the UFC has yet to officially announce Lesnar's withdrawal from the Dec. 6 bout, Carwin has already posted on his official Twitter account that he now expects to face Lesnar at UFC 108 on Jan. 2.
"I just heard from (my manager) Jason (Genet)," Carwin stated. "Looks like it is postponed till Jan. 2. I had H1N1 myself, and I understand how devastating it can be."
UFC 106 is one of the deeper cards of the year with former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin slotted in the night's co-main event. The bout could take the top spot if a suitable replacement fight can't be booked.
The scrapped main event was supposed to serve as Lesnar's first title defense since unifying the UFC's heavyweight belts with a UFC 100 win over then-interim champ Frank Mir. Lesnar won the title with a November 2008 victory over then-champ Randy Couture.
Carwin, meanwhile, looked to claim his 12th straight win at UFC 106. The 34-year-old has yet to fight longer than two minutes and 11 seconds in any bout. He had posted swift UFC victories over Christian Wellisch, Neil Wain and Gabriel Gonzaga to earn the title shot.
While his resume surely warrants title consideration, Carwin helped his case in landing the title shot by publicly criticizing Lesnar's controversial post-fight comments following UFC 100. Following a rant in which Lesnar scoffed at fans and UFC sponsors alike, Carwin hit social networking sites and conducted many interviews in which he condemned the actions of the former WWE superstar.
Soon after news of the cancellation came out, Carwin posted a simple message on his Twitter account: "Very disappointing."
And though his camp is aware of the change, Carwin hinted in a later posting that he heard the same way most fans did.
"It's [disappointing] hearing about your career and life through the media," he wrote. "Nothing from the [bosses] yet."
The latest UFC 106 card now includes:MAIN CARD
* Shane Carwin vs. TBA * Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz * Luiz Cane vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira* * Dustin Hazelett vs. Karo Parisyan
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
* Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah * Marcus Davis vs. Ben Saunders * Kendall Grove vs. Jake Rosholt * Brian Foster vs. Brock Larson* * Paulo Thiago vs. Jacob Volkmann* * Fabricio Camoes vs. Caol Uno* * Jason Dent vs. George Sotiropoulos
* - Not officially announcedhttp://mmajunkie.com/news/16628/brock-l ... llness.mma
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