He opted to clinch with Wain, landing a double leg takedown with relative ease. Wain was unable to nullify his opponents grappling, and after giving up mount, succumbed to strikes seconds into the first round. After crossing the Atlantic and pacifying the roar of the British crowd, Carwin was set to fight in early against former title contender Gabriel Gonzaga, who is internationally recognized for his headkick upset over the legendary Mirko Cro Cop.
The pair were set to square off at UFC 96, and were gifted the co-main event slot. The victor would likely propel themselves into title contention. In hindsight, despite the result of the contest, I believe going from a debuting Neil Wain to the battle-tested Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Gabriel Gonzaga was a massive leap in competitiveness for Carwin.
Even though Carwin boasted four submission victories, he was undoubtedly the inferior grappler when matched against Gonzaga. This fight was the most trouble we had seen Shane Carwin in for the entirety of his career, and in saying that, it was still nothing major or detrimental. The undefeated heavyweight was yet to see a second round, however, his adversary on the night was eager to change that. Gonzaga proved to be somewhat difficult to deal with in the first minute, landing a straight right hand which connected flush and momentarily rocked his opponent.
He followed this up with single leg takedown: Carwin was on his back for the very first time, and it happened to be against a formidable jiu-jitsu practitioner. Nevertheless, in one sudden motion, Carwin muscled his way back to his feet and into the clinch. In the span of a second, he was once again back where he was most dangerous. Immediately after disengaging from the clinch, Gonzaga fired a big right hand, followed by a further two punches. However, there was a split second to spare.
Carwin jumped on the chance and landed a straight right of his own, crumbling Gonzaga instantaneously. He had just sealed his third UFC win in little over a minute, bringing his combined Octagon time to a mere 3 minutes and 4 seconds. Following his flatlining of Gabriel Gonzaga, Shane Carwin signed a contract to face the future champion, Cain Velasquez, who also built up a knack for steamrolling through his peers.
The winner would receive a title shot against reigning champ Brock Lesnar. But unfortunately, we were unable to witness it due to the UFC deciding to let Carwin fight for the title instead, without having to deal with the fruitful grappling and cardio of the up and coming Velasquez.
Lesnar pulled out of two scheduled bouts with Carwin due to extreme illness: an intestinal disorder that required surgery, to be more precise. Because of this Shane was matched with the only man to ever defeat Lesnar, Frank Mir, who was desperate to regain the title he once rightfully owned. This created extra motivation for both men and the opportunity to add some gold to their cabinets was lucrative indeed. The pair met at UFC , where Carwin competed in the co-main event slot for a second consecutive time.
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Carwin again came up short, this time by decision. Following this, he took more time off before coaching the 16th season of The Ultimate Fighter against rival Roy Nelson. Unfortunately, the fight with Nelson never came to fruition due to Carwin suffering injuries to his knee and back. I love the math calculations, the science behind everything.
Three years later, after battling some nagging injuries, Carwin decided to close the curtains on his MMA career. During his entire fighting career, he was also employed full-time as a mechanical engineer with his local water district, a job he still holds today.
While many thought he was crazy for attempting to do both, it was normal for him. Nothing was any different doing engineering and training in MMA. It was morning to night. That is a message Carwin hopes to share with current student-athletes, too. He occasionally returns to Western State to speak with them about his experiences. That recovery took longer than planned, but Carwin hoped to return in the fall. And after a neck surgery in , the back surgery and the knee injury, the year-old Carwin elected to hang up the gloves.
Carwin signed with the UFC in after starting his pro career with eight first-round stoppages, including Ring of Fire's heavyweight title.
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