Shane Carwin created a buzz amongst fight fans earlier this week when he teased a potential fight against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.
The former interim UFC heavyweight champion tweeted a picture of fight gloves from the Japanese promotion Rizin Fighting Federation then said he had accepted a fight with Fedor.
https://twitter.com/ShaneCarwin/status/789991380898582529
https://twitter.com/ShaneCarwin/status/790371967647952897
Carwin, 41, announced back in August he planned on returning to competition.
The 265-pound knockout artist stormed through his competition, going 12-0 from 2005-2010 with 12 first-round stoppages. His UFC career peaked when he won UFC gold by putting Frank Mir to sleep at UFC 111. He came close to stopping Brock Lesnar in their UFC 116 title unification fight in 2010 but was submitted in the second round. He followed that up with a unanimous decision loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 in Vancouver in June 2011. The Greeley, Colo., native coached The Ultimate Fighter 16 opposite Roy Nelson the following year but their scheduled fight was continuously postponed as Carwin dealt with various injuries. He officially retired from MMA in May 2013.
“It was a sad way for me to go out, with the back injuries and the knee, my neck — everything,” Carwin told ESPN’s 5 Rounds Podcast. “My body needed that break, and quite honestly, back then, the way we were training, I feel we probably trained too much. Too intense. We were sparring three times a week. A lot has revolutionized in the last five years. It’s kind of changed the sport. I look at [training] schedules and they’re not as demanding on the body [now].”
Fedor has fought just twice since 2012, beating Singh Jaideep easily in Rizin last New Year’s Eve and barely making out of a fight with Fabio Maldonado in June.
