Less than 72 hours since Shane Carwin beat Frank Mir to set up a UFC heavyweight championship showdown with Brock Lesnar, the early odds are favoring the current champ to hold off the challenger and hold on to his belt.

Though the fight is not yet official, UFC President Dana White told MMA Fighting late last Saturday night that the company was aiming for UFC 116, which takes place on July 3. The early line makes Lesnar a more than 2-to-1 favorite.

Bodog became the first sports book to set a line, and they have installed Lesnar as a -225 favorite. Carwin, the interim champion who will be considered the challenger in the title unification bout, is listed as +185 underdog. [credit: mmafaighting.com]

In yesterday's New York Daily News Brock was quoted as saying the following about former NFL star Herschel Walker and his Strikeforce debut win: "I'm happy to see he's got the (guts) to get in the ring. He beat one guy, but he's old enough to be my father."

Brock was interviewed on yahoo.com. Here are some of his quotes:

On Carwin vs Mir:
“I kind of figured Shane was going to win, though I know anything can happen in this sport. I was kind of laying back and I didn’t want to count any chickens before they hatched. Shane’s a tough guy and I just know that Frank’s time is done. This is the new evolution of the heavyweight division. Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, we’re the guys in this division.”

On Carwin's Interim belt:
“This belt thing, well, hopefully he enjoys the moment,” Lesnar said, grinning, as Carwin posed a few feet away in the cage for photographers. “He should enjoy the win over Frank, but he has to realize that I’m the heavyweight champion. Everybody knows that. Good for him winning that fake belt.

On not fighting Carwin last november:
“I had to pull out against him last fall and I didn’t feel good about that. But I couldn’t fight a guy like that if I wasn’t in the best shape of my life. I had to do what I had to do.”