Carwin Blames Referee, lactic acidosis, massive adrenaline dump on loss to Lesner

[Boanerges]

When Shane Carwin went from the being on the brink of dominantly beating UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar in the first round of their title tilt last Saturday night to feebly succumbing to an arm triangle choke in the second frame, many people were left wondering,"What the hell happened?"

Carwin, who originally claimed that his body locked up as a result of lactic acidosis, now says that his lack of energy to finish Lesnar was a result of a massive adrenaline dump, caused by the instruction of referee Josh Rosenthal.

Carwin explained the interesting series of events that led to his defeat to Heavy.com.

“During the first round, (referee) Josh (Rosenthal) was telling Brock to fight back or he will stop the fight,” explained Carwin, going back over the action from Saturday’s event in Las Vegas. “Every time I heard that, I unloaded a little more and eventually just punched myself out.”

His decline in performance near the end of the first round when he seemed to have the fight in the bag caused many to question his cardio and whether or not working a full time job while training part time was partially to blame for Carwin's rapid energy depletion.

According to the Trevor Wittman Grudge Training Centre trained fighter says the claim is without merit.

“Anyone who questions my cardio should come and train with me. We trained for a twenty-five minute fight but things go wrong. It happens. I basically had an adrenaline dump towards the end of the first (round) and I was unable to recover in between rounds. I think the biggest factor of the adrenaline dump was hearing Rosenthal say, `Brock I am going to stop it,’ and then not stopping it,” admitted Carwin. “He said it at least three different points in the round, and each time I went for the finish and it never came. It sucked the wind and life out of me.”

Despite the overwhelming consensus that champions need to train as if it's their job, Carwin thumbs his nose at the notion that he should quit his day job as an engineer if he wants to compete.

“I am surprised by how many people view their jobs as an obstacle to chasing your dreams. The job has allowed me to become the fighter I am today; it has not hindered me in any way. I find it insulting that people do not understand that. Ask any of the pro fighters I train with if they out train me or think I could be a better fighter if I was in the gym more. Fact is I might be the one in the gym the most."

“My life has a structure to it and I include training into that structure,” continued Carwin. “I am not shooting movies, working on TV shows, or working in a 9-5 bank. I am a full-time fighter, full-time engineer, father and husband. My whole life I have been a multi-sport athlete and was always required to do my fair share around the house and in school. The fundamentals of life came before the pursuit of my dreams.”

If he ever gets another chance to fight for the title again, Carwin says he won't let the opportunity slip him by again, believing he has the tools to disassemble the champ. Recanting on earlier claims that he felt Lesnar "go out" when he connected with punches in the opening stanza, he says that he could have had his hand raised if he had just connected with one bomb.

“If I had it to do all over again I would probably go for it again. If some of those hard blows landed he would have been knocked out. This was the biggest fight of my life and I swung for the fences and came up short. Next time, I won’t falter and I will have my hand raised.”
-Cage Potato

It all boils down to Carwin could have won if his conditioning was better. I really wanted Carwin to win but he gassed and that cost him the fight. I also did not know he had a day job. He says it does not effect his training but IMO he would be a lot better of a fighter if all he concentrated on was his training. Those 8 hrs (or whatever) a day he is at work his body could be resting and recuperating.

[Sariel]

Yah my husband and I were pulling for him to, it was disappointing to see him lose.
Thats a tough spot though I feel for him, do you abandon your obligations to your family and bills? I know top fighters get prize money and sponsorships, but I can see his point. Hopefully after this he can get some feedback from people he respects and find a better balance.

[Boanerges]

Yah my husband and I were pulling for him to, it was disappointing to see him lose.
Thats a tough spot though I feel for him, do you abandon your obligations to your family and bills? I know top fighters get prize money and sponsorships, but I can see his point. Hopefully after this he can get some feedback from people he respects and find a better balance.

I am not sure how he makes his money or what his personal bills are so tuff for me to say if he is working because he has to or because he wants to. It came off as the later of the two to me though. If he has sponsership deals, promo deals etc, he would make money from all that too. Even though he just lost to Lesner he made $40,000 for losing (and that is only from 1 fight so far this year). Heck, Brock Lesner made $400,000 for winning But I would not abandon my family obligations if that is what it came down to personally but if it were possible to just train and stop working then that is his best bet IMO

[Sariel]

I am not sure how he makes his money or what his personal bills are so tuff for me to say if he is working because he has to or because he wants to. It came off as the later of the two to me though. If he has sponsership deals, promo deals etc, he would make money from all that too. Even though he just lost to Lesner he made $40,000 for losing (and that is only from 1 fight so far this year). Heck, Brock Lesner made $400,000 for winning But I would not abandon my family obligations if that is what it came down to personally but if it were possible to just train and stop working then that is his best bet IMO

Id have to agree, if he wasn't facing foreclosure or delinquent bills then focusing on his fighting at this point in time would probably be best. If it is his dream, he has a small window in which he can actually act on it, were as the rest of his life can be spent working. lol.

[MarkieJ]

Even though he just lost to Lesner he made $40,000 for losing (and that is only from 1 fight so far this year). Heck, Brock Lesner made $400,000 for winning But I would not abandon my family obligations if that is what it came down to personally but if it were possible to just train and stop working then that is his best bet IMO

Is that all they got? For all of the abuse they put their bodies through, and all of the pay-per-view buys, those fighters are getting ripped off.

[Colin Vestrand]

to see this nonsense from carwin really irks me... i like the guy and wanted him to win, but he's wrong and he knows it. no good referee is going to stop a title fight for punches when the champ is as big as lesnar. the guy could probably get hit by a train and get back up.

in reality, a ton of guys have used the same strategy that lesnar did... and some use it to great success (anderson silva and robbie lawler come to mind). i mean, i guess it has to hurt knowing that an oaf like brock had better strategy than you!

anyway, he should spend his energy training and looking for a rematch. just my opinion.

[Boanerges]

Is that all they got? For all of the abuse they put their bodies through, and all of the pay-per-view buys, those fighters are getting ripped off.

This is the total pay roll for UFC 116:

The total payroll for UFC 116 as provided by the Nevada State Athletic Commission was $923,000. Though that does not include bonuses, endorsements, or any other type of bonus worked into a fighter's contract.

Bonuses of $75,000 were awarded to six fighters in addition to the payout information listed below. Gerald Harris won the knockout of the night bonus, while Brock Lesnar took home submission of the night honours.

The fight of the night bonus was awarded to two different fights. They were the Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztoff Soszynski and Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama fights.

Here is the full list of payout information from UFC 116:

Brock Lesnar: $400,000 (no win bonus)
def. Shane Carwin: $40,000

Chris Leben: $86,000 ($43,000 win bonus)
def. Yoshihiro Akiyama: $45,000

Chris Lytle: $52,000 ($26,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Brown: $10,000

Stephan Bonnar: $50,000 ($25,000 win bonus)
def. Krzysztof Soszynski: $10,000

George Sotiropoulos: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus)
def. Kurt Pellegrino: $25,000

Brendan Schuab: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Tuchscherer: $12,000

Ricardo Romero: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
def. Seth Petruzelli: $10,000

Kendall Grove: $50,000 ($25,000 win bonus)
def. Goran Reljic: $5,000

Gerald Harris: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. David Branch: $6,000

Daniel Roberts: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def. Forrest Petz: $6,000

Jon Madsen: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
def. Karlos Vemola: $8,000

-This one is odd to me:
George Sotiropoulos: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus)
def. Kurt Pellegrino: $25,000

Not sure how the winner makes less then the loser? He made more with his bonus but without the bonus he would have made a $1,000 less for winning?

[mainbutter]

Is that all they got? For all of the abuse they put their bodies through, and all of the pay-per-view buys, those fighters are getting ripped off.

Unless you're in MLB, athletes make the SERIOUS cash from sponsors.

[nicktreb]

It was a great fight, I do believe Carwin gassed out early. There is no excuse, he should have been prepared for that. That being said, I don't ever see Brock being knocked out.

[Flatheadhunter33]

to see this nonsense from carwin really irks me... i like the guy and wanted him to win, but he's wrong and he knows it. no good referee is going to stop a title fight for punches when the champ is as big as lesnar. the guy could probably get hit by a train and get back up.

Well...the shoe was on the other foot when Lesnar and Mir met up for the second match. Brock had Mir against the cage dropping bombs on him and the ref stopped it...Carwin pretty much had him the same way. Refs do give the champ the benefit of the doubt but that was a long time that they gave Brock.