It feels like every fight leading up to UFC 116 has just been an appetizer.
I don’t care how good the matchups have been, or how stunning the upsets, the Brock Lesnar versus Shane Carwin fight blows them all out of the water.
It could be the anticipation as this fight was scheduled for UFC 106 but an illness to Lesnar – a bacterial infection in his intestinal track – left us die hard MMA fans hanging in the balance for well over a year.
But that’s all over now and on Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada two giants will step into the ring for the chance to be called the undisputed heavyweight champion of the UFC.
UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin
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Date: July 3, 2010
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Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena
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TV: Live on PPV at 10 pm ET
UFC 116 Betting Line: Brock Lesnar -155, Shane Carwin +125
Shane Carwin put himself in this position by winning the interim heavyweight championship bout over Frank Mir at UFC 111.
But it was the way he did it – knocking out Mir in the first round - that left no doubt in everyone’s mind that Lesnar vs. Carwin is without a doubt a battle between the two best heavyweights in the UFC and possibly the world.
It’s has been so long since we’ve seen Lesnar in the ring that it makes you wonder who really has the advantage come Saturday night. But then you look back on Lesnar’s fights and realize what an outstanding raw talent he is.
The man is like a mythical beast, a combination of enormous size, brute strength, and raw power that is unmatched in the sport. He came into the sport that he had no formal training in and became the most feared fighter in just over a year.
Saying this fight is big is the understatement of the year.
UFC 116 Betting Line: Yoshihiro Akiyama -235, Chris Leben +185
After much back and forth about whether or not Akiyama would take the fight against Chris Leben, the Japanese star has stepped up and agreed to take on Wanderlei Silva’s replacement.
Akiyama had obviously expressed some concern with such a late change of opponents as it was only learned a short time ago that Leben would be replacing Silva after "The Axe Murderer" pulled out due to injury.
Akiyama’s concerns are that he has to come up with a totally different game plan, one that he had been preparing for close to a year.
There is also the fact that he’s fighting a guy that doesn’t have the same name recognition as Silva, but as a fighter, you sometimes need to just step up and prove yourself.
Here is a full rundown of the UFC 116 card:
Heavyweight Championship bout: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
Middleweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben
Welterweight bout: Chris Lytle vs. Matt Brown
Light Heavyweight bout: Poland Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Stephan Bonnar
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Preliminary card (Spike TV)
Heavyweight bout: Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Light Heavyweight bout: Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero
Preliminary card
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Croatia
Middleweight bout: Gerald Harris vs. Dave Branch
Welterweight bout: Daniel Roberts vs. Forrest Petz
Heavyweight bout: Jon Madsen vs. Czech Republic Karlos Vemola
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