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Five the Hard Way –
Lesnar Rises from Brink to Submit Carwin
Photos By Esther Lin
By Thomas Gerbasi
 LAS
VEGAS, July 3 – For a few minutes in the first round of the UFC 116
main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday night, it looked
like the heavy hands of Shane Carwin were going to forcibly remove
the UFC heavyweight title from the grasp of Brock Lesnar. But with
an amazing show of heart and resilience, and a chin of steel, Lesnar
survived the first round and then closed the show in the second with
a submission victory that kept the belt around the waist of the
premier heavyweight in the game today. See post-fight interview and
press conference comments at UFC.com.
“This isn’t about me tonight,” said Lesnar, who was forced to the
sidelines for nearly a year due to a bout with diverticulitis. “This
is about my family, my doctors, all my training partners and staff.
I am blessed by God. I stand before you a humble champion, but I’m
still the toughest SOB around.”
 At
the bell, Carwin and Lesnar circled each other warily, Lesnar
shooting out a couple jabs that fell short. As the champion moved
closer, Carwin scored with a short right hand and Lesnar shot for a
takedown that was turned away. In an ensuing exchange, Carwin rocked
Lesnar with an uppercut and sent him sprawling across the Octagon.
Carwin threw a series of unanswered blows, but wasn’t able to Finish
Lesnar off. Lesnar briefly cleared his head and tried to score with
a knee, but Carwin got his foe to the mat and again began teeing
off. Lesnar, his face now bloodied from a cut over his left eye,
amazingly didn’t give in to the increasing assault, doing just
enough to keep referee Josh Rosenthal from stopping the fight. With
less than two minutes left, Lesnar finally made his move and got
back to his feet. This time, Lesnar’s knee landed hard as the two
locked up against the fence, and though Carwin avoided a late
takedown attempt, at the bell it looked like a brand new fight was
about to begin.
“I was going after the kill,” said Carwin.
“He’s a tough SOB, I tightened up.”
“I just had to weather the storm,” added Lesnar. “He’s got some
heavy shots. I knew he was getting tired. Each shot was less
dramatic than the one before, I just had to let him go.”
Lesnar smiled as the second round began and he touched gloves with
Carwin at the bell. This time Lesnar made the move to get off first,
and after a right hand didn’t do the trick, a takedown moments later
did. Now in control on the mat, Lesnar locked in an arm triangle
with a little over three minutes left. And though Carwin gallantly
tried to break loose, he was eventually forced to tap at the 2:19
mark.
“I thought I had enough space to breathe, but he sunk it in tight,
and I was going out,” said Carwin.
With the win, Lesnar improves to 5-1; Carwin falls to 12-1.
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