An exclusive interview with Shane Carwin makes my day in Portland.
They say "the early bird gets the worm" and I definitely agree. Our third day in Portland started bright and early and while the team is feeling fatigued, we are still loving every minute of it.
Right off the bat I had an 8 a.m. radio interview with one of my favourite radio stations in Edmonton. I followed that up with a stand-up recording to set up our feature with Tim Hague and then headed right back to the hotel for an exclusive interview with Shane Carwin.
Carwin is set to face off with Brock Lesnar at UFC 106 and to say the heavyweight is looking forward to the fight would be an understatement. He is looking forward to showcasing how a real mixed martial arts champion should behave himself.
"Lesnar is a talented athlete and very gifted and I knew he would excel in the UFC," Carwin said.
In regards to Lesnar's post-fight behaviour at UFC 100, Carwin made it clear as to how he feels.
"I know some of his antics have been questioned and questioned by me," Carwin said. "I know I came out and said a few things about that. It's not who we are as MMA fighters. I felt it was appropriate for some MMA fighters to speak out about who we are and what we are about. That's definitely not the perception I want people to see me as."
In breaking down how he anticipates the fight with Lesnar will go, it appears as if Carwin wants to stand and trade with the champ.
"That's my passion now. It's the boxing. Being on my feet. I like to throw bombs and get into those exchanges. I might have a bit of an advantage there. On the ground, we'll see."
He also believes the bout will not go the distance.
"It's going to be an interesting fight. I know it's going to be an exciting fight and I don't expect it to go five rounds," stated Carwin.
Shane isn't much of a trash talker and is extremely humble. He's a down-to-earth guy with no bad blood in him, but when I asked what we can expect after his bout with Lesnar, he creatively stated: "At the end of that bout, hopefully I'll be toasting the fans with a Bud Light."
You can catch more of the interview with Carwin on Monday's episode of "MMA Connected," as we will be broadcasting an exclusive feature with the would-be champion. We will also be looking to post the full version online at sportsnet.ca as well as our "Getting to Know" Shane Carwin segment in a future episode of the show.
We also caught up with Carwin's strength and conditioning coach, Jonathan Chaimberg, who gave us the skinny on what Shane is currently going through as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life.
Chaimberg also shares his knowledge of what he does differently for fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Kenny Florian and Denis Kang.
We followed this up by attending the UFC 102 weigh-ins where we had the enviable task of dealing with the lovely Octagon Girls and setting up our "Fanatic Email of the Week" shoot for Saturday afternoon.
I know what you're saying. It's a tough gig, but someone's gotta do it, right?
