Yahoo.com reports that Dana White said Brock told him that he might not be ready to fight in january. Let's all hope Brock gets well again real soon, it sounds serious.
Q: You recently stated that Lesnar was a "draw", while you're a "fighter". How do you feel about Lesnar, the fighter? What do you feel are his strengths and weaknesses?
Shane Carwin: Brock is a talented athlete, which makes him dangerous. I think he has a lot of size and power to go along with the size. That being said, he is also very fast. He is exactly what the future of the UFC heavyweight division will be all about. Guys that are elite athletes, have a ton of size and have to cut down to make weight, and can perform at the highest level. If he has one weakness, it is that he doesn't respect the sport or his opponents.
Q: Many people have compared you to Lesnar. What do you feel are the major similarities and differences between you two? Do you consider yourself more well-rounded as a mixed martial artist than Lesnar?
Shane Carwin: I have more experience then Brock, I am sure he will admit that. Like I said, he is the type of heavyweight that will make up the UFC over the next few years. Guys like Todd Duffee, Brendan Schaub, Dos Santos and more are all elite athletes with a ton of size and power.
Q: While we're talking about Fedor, one fight that Dana White was trying to make was Fedor vs. Lesnar, before Fedor ended up signing with Strikeforce. How do you think a fight between the two would have went?
Shane Carwin: I think that Fedor would beat Brock.
Brock's jiu-jitsu coach Rodrigo Comprido about Brock's illness:
“I think you already know, but Brock had to postpone the fight because he had a terrible flu and couldn’t train for two weeks. We tried again today (yesterday) and he couldn’t do anything, so we decided to postpone the fight. It’d be impossible to fight well starting the third week without conditions to train well. The fact is that, whenever the fight is set, he’ll present even better than the last time. And I say that because the beginning of this training camp was fantastic, the [best] start I’ve ever seen. We had a lot of high level sparrings and the coaches are even more connected. But the important [thing] is that Brock was very well physically and technically. Like people say, a blessing in disguise."
Lesnar's manager said in an interview that he does not know whether Lesnar had swine flu, and that he is beyond the stage at which he could be tested for the virus. He said Lesnar had upper respiratory issues, fever and extreme fatigue.
"Honestly, he's been sick since the beginning of this camp and he's had to take days off throughout!"
Brock just took an entire week off from training with no appreciable improvement. His head mixed martial arts coach, Marty Morgan, did not think he would have enough training time to properly prepare.
"We kept thinking that he'd get better and be back at it, but it finally got to a point here where we were looking at a situation where Brock would have just two weeks to train for this fight."
"That's just not fair to him. There's no way a two-week training camp is even close to being fair to him and we all realized that. We kept hoping Brock would respond and get better, but it just lingered."
Q: It's been a crazy day for you with Brock Lesnar having to withdraw from UFC 106. What were your thoughts when you heard that your bout with him was going to be postponed?
Shane Carwin: I was pretty disappointed. We have a lot of work put into this fight and it is a huge let down.
Q: The UFC noted that Lesnar had not been able to train for over a month due to his illness. Had you heard anything about that?
Shane Carwin: Nope, this was news to me. I have been dealing with the flu, a bad leg and started my camp with a broken nose. I hope he heals up and we can give the fans the fight they want to see.
Q: It's rumored that your bout with Lesnar has been moved to UFC 108 on January 2, 2010. Can you confirm that?
Shane Carwin: I have not heard anything official yet, and until we get a new bout agreement, I just do not have any idea as to what is next. I'm going to help my team get ready for their fights and see what happens. [Carwin confirmed the date via twitter by now]
Q: Your fight with Lesnar was only weeks away, before it was postponed. How was your training camp going? What had you changed in preparing for Lesnar?
Shane Carwin: We brought in some big strong heavyweights to emulate Brock's style and other then that we are working on timing, speed and being able to get up from any position. Brock is a super athlete so it is not an easy task to find people who can replicate his size, speed and athleticism. My coach wants to bring in a Lion and have me try to submit it but we could not find a lion.
Q: Both you and Lesnar are accomplished collegiate wrestlers, but Brock recently mocked your wrestling pedigree. Do you think when you do fight, that you might take the fight to the ground just to show him up, or keep it standing where many feel you have the advantage?
Shane Carwin: You know, if talk was an olympic sport, he would have a gold medal. He started his career in junior college. so obviously being a great wrestler doesn't equal D1 [Division 1]. Wrestlers have a lot of obstacles to make it to that D1 status, and unlike most NCAA sports we do not have a ton of options, scholarships or fan support. Brock disrespecting ANY college wrestler just shows the lack of character he has for this sport. Guys like GSP are showing that you can learn wrestling just like you can learn BJJ or boxing. I know for a fact that some of the best wrestlers may have never got their shot at D1 due to grades, money, time, etc.
Put NFL where MMA is and ask yourself, 'Is Randy Moss less of a wide receiver because he went to Marshall [Division 2 Football]', or is he a elite wide receiver who doesn't let where he comes from dictate where he may go in life. Brock can create whatever virtual advantage he wants, the truth will be clear soon.
Q: Speaking of Lesnar's recent comments, he recently also said that he considers you 1-0 because he feels that Gabriel Gonzaga is the only real fighter you've faced. Yet Lesnar was really only 1-1 (not counting his win over Min-Soo Kim) when he received a UFC title shot. What do you think about Lesnar's comments?
Shane Carwin: I totally agree that Gabe is an elite fighter. I, however, do not have the ability to dictate who I fight or when. I am not a WWE superstar who sells millions of pay-per-views. I am just a fighter who trains hard and is finally getting his shot at the title. I do not feel as if I have been handed anything. I consider Brock a tough fight and I look forward to having my hand raised that night.