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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Shane Carwin is pulling out of his UFC 125 co-headlining bout with Roy Nelson.
According to the heavyweight himself on his website Shane-Carwin.com, he has been battling back pains in training that may require surgery. In addition, even without surgery he'll be out of action for up to 12 weeks, which has led to the decision to pull out of the fight.
"I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson," Carwin wrote. "As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action."
Carwin said he pondered over the decision for a long time, ultimately siding with his family and manager who told him he "can't fight the best fighters in the world with just heart."
"In the end my family and manager are right," he said. "I owe myself, I owe my fans the best show I can give them. I need to get healthy. I am going to be speaking with the surgeon this week about the surgery. My thoughts are if the surgery fixes it why add 8-12 weeks of physical therapy, epidurals and traction if surgery may still be needed."
"This type of thing is MMA," Carwin continued. "I know I am saying that a lot but it is the truth. We sacrifice our minds and bodies on our own time and our own dimes to prepare for battle. in hopes that we get the call for battle. In that process things can go wrong and if we don't compete we don't get paid. The time, money and sacrifices are lost and your opportunity might pass you by. Some fighters choose to fight injured as the risk is worth any part of the reward they may receive."
"To my fan's, we will get there and in the end this is all for you. I hope to continue to entertain you and interact with you as much as possible."
Penick's Analysis: That's a terrible setback for Carwin, but it could set up a few interesting scenarios in the heavyweight division. Hopefully he can get the issue figured out, get the surgery done if it will help him recover better and faster, and then get back into the cage. If I were the UFC, I'd be contacting Frank Mir about the Nelson fight right about now, as that would be an immensely intriguing fight. Nelson does hold a win over Mir in a grappling competition, and would provide a much stiffer challenge than Cro Cop did at UFC 119. As for Carwin, with this setback, it actually could set up a major opportunity for him to get back the one loss on his record. With Lesnar losing to Cain Velasquez, they could easily set up Lesnar-Carwin 2 in the spring, with the winner vaulting right into the title picture again. Lesnar can take his time to recover from the injuries suffered to Velasquez, and Carwin can come back fully prepared to try to finish what he started in the first round of their bout in July.
[Shane Carwin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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