Western Colorado Mountaineers The Western Colorado Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Western Colorado University, located in Gunnison, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Mountaineers compete as members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Co ...

Shane Bannister Carwin (born January 4, 1975) is an American former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competed in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is considered to be one of the hardest hitting athletes to ever fight in the UFC.

Background

Carwin and his two brothers were raised by his mother, who had the goal of getting all her sons college educations. He started wrestling when he was six years old. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

as well as a bachelor's degree in environmental technology from

Western State College Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

. Carwin became an engineer out of college and continued to work in that field while pursuing his MMA career. Carwin wrestled in college, becoming a two-time

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Wrestling National Runner-Up as a heavyweight in 1996 and 1997, and the NCAA II Wrestling Heavyweight National Champion in 1999. He was also a two-time All-American in football for Western State and was chosen to participate in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

. Carwin is also a volunteer wrestling coach for the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

Mixed martial arts career

Carwin made his professional debut at ''

WEC 17 WEC 17: Halloween Fury 4 was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 14, 2005 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. A light heavyweight tournament was held with the winner being crowned th ...

'', winning his first eight fights by first round stoppage and became the Ring of Fire Heavyweight Champion before signing with the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Carwin made his

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

debut on the undercard of ''

UFC 84 ''UFC 84: Ill Will'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 24, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The card featured the return of Sean Sherk, who was suspended and ...

'' against

Christian Wellisch Christian Wellisch (born September 13, 1975) is a Hungarian-American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2009, he competed for the UFC, WEC, and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Welli ...

. He won the match via one punch

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

44 seconds into the first round, demonstrating his punching power by sending Wellisch's mouthpiece flying across the octagon. Carwin followed up with an appearance in

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

at ''

UFC 89 ''UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 18, 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Background The event was headlined by a middleweight b ...

'' against Neil Wain, winning another one sided fight via TKO at 1:31 of the first round. At ''

UFC 96 ''UFC 96: Jackson vs. Jardine'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It was held in Columbus, Ohio on March 7, 2009 at Nationwide Arena. Background The card was headlined by a Light Heavyweight bout be ...

'', Carwin took a major step up in competition when he faced former number one contender and renowned

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

black belt

Gabriel Gonzaga Gabriel Gonzaga Santos Nogueira (; born 18 May 1979) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competed in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is perhaps best known for his upset head-kick knockout of ...

. After being stunned by a flurry of punches, Carwin knocked Gonzaga unconscious with a short right hand at 1:09 of the first round. Carwin was then set to face fellow undefeated heavyweight contender

Cain Velasquez Caín Ramirez Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, ...

at ''

UFC 104 ''UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Background As with UFC 103, the UFC announced a portion of the preliminary card would ...

'', with the winner getting a title shot against then-champion

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, former mixed martial artist (MMA), amateur wrestler, and professional American football player who holds both American and Canadian citizenship. He is ...

; however, the UFC reconsidered the bout and Carwin was confirmed to fight for the title at ''

UFC 106 ''UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 21, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Background As with UFC 103 and UFC 104, a portion of the preliminary card ai ...

'' on November 21, 2009. The fight was later postponed after Lesnar pulled out due to illness, with ''

UFC 108 ''UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 2, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Background The card for UFC 108 was plagued with numerous injuries ...

'' a likely date. Lesnar then pulled out of that fight on October 26, and

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

reported at the ''

UFC 105 ''UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, United Kingdom at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This event aired on the same day, via tape de ...

'' post-fight press conference that Lesnar was too ill to compete and was expected to be out for the first half of 2010 while recovering from an intestinal disorder and subsequent surgery. Carwin fought former

UFC Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Frank Mir Francisco Santos Mir III (; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A f ...

for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship on March 27, 2010, at ''

UFC 111 ''UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on March 27, 2010 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Background The ''UFC Primetime'' series returned t ...

''. Carwin stated on his website that, "Mir is a legend of the sport, and I would be honored to fight him." Early in the first round, Carwin dropped Mir with multiple

uppercut The uppercut (formerly known as the undercut; sometimes also referred to as the ''upper'') is a punch used in boxing that travels along a vertical line at the opponent's chin or solar plexus. It is, along with the cross, one of the two main pun ...

s from the clinch. Carwin then followed Mir to the ground, took back mount and rained down heavy punches on Mir's head thus winning the fight via knockout to become the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. The bout also marked the longest fight of Carwin's career at three minutes and 48 seconds; his previous mark was his MMA debut against Carlton Jones, with a time of 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Following ''UFC 111'', Beau Dure of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' compared Carwin to

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

, echoing a similar comparison made prior to the event by Mark Wayne of ''Fightline.com''. Carwin then went on to face

for the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship at ''

UFC 116 ''UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 3, 2010, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was voted as the Best Major Show in the 2010 Wrestling Observer ...

''. He dominated the first round, knocking Lesnar down and unleashing a relentless

ground and pound Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

attack to a visibly stunned Lesnar. However, in the second round, Lesnar took an exhausted Carwin down and applied an

arm-triangle choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whi ...

, forcing Carwin to submit. Carwin was scheduled to face former IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson on January 1, 2011, at ''

UFC 125 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

''; however, he later announced on his website that he would pull out of the fight due to back and neck pain, which required surgery that took place on November 2, 2010. Carwin later stated that the neck surgery was a success. On January 3, 2011, Carwin posted a blog entry on his website, stating that he had just begun his first day of training since his neck surgery, hoping to be back in the octagon by May or June 2011. Carwin was expected to face promotional newcomer Jon Olav Einemo on June 11, 2011, at ''

UFC 131 ''UFC 131: dos Santos vs. Carwin'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on 11 June 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Background Brock Lesnar was originally scheduled to face ...

''. However, another bout with diverticulitis sidelined Brock Lesnar, so Carwin agreed to step in to the main event to fight

Junior dos Santos Junior dos Santos (; born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of Eagle FC. As a mixed martial ar ...

. Carwin was defeated by Dos Santos via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–26). This fight was the first in Carwin's career to ever go to a decision. On September 9, 2011, Carwin posted a blog entry on his website stating that he was 100% healthy and looking to return to the octagon in late December or early January. On October 16, 2011, it was revealed that Carwin would need back surgery. He was expected to be out until mid-2012. However, his recovery took longer than expected, and he was targeting a return to fighting that fall. On Thursday July 12, 2012,

announced that Carwin and Roy Nelson had been picked as the next coaches for the 16th season of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

(TUF) and were expected to face each other on December 15, 2012, at '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale''. However, on November 14, 2012, Dana White revealed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that Carwin injured his knee and would not be facing Nelson in the TUF finale. On May 7, 2013, Carwin announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) after enduring several injuries since his last fight on June 11, 2011.

MMA return

On July 26, 2016, Carwin announced his plans to return to MMA, five years since his last competitive bout. On September 7, 2016, Carwin announced that he had worked with his management team at Ingrained Media to secure his release from the UFC and became a free agent. On October 28, 2016, Carwin announced he had signed with Rizin Fighting Federation. He stated that he expected to debut on their December 29, 2016,

card Card or The Card may refer to: * Various types of plastic cards: **By type ***Magnetic stripe card *** Chip card *** Digital card **By function ***Payment card ****Credit card **** Debit card ****EC-card ****Identity card ****European Health Insur ...

, but later withdrew with injury. In late 2017, Carwin was in negotiations with

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

but nothing came to fruition, despite his injuries being rehabilitated.

Boxing career

On October 15, 2016, Carwin participated in a boxing exhibition match against professional skateboarder Jason Ellis at EllisMania 13. Per the unique rules, Carwin had one of his arms duct-taped to his body to box Ellis. He won the bout via knockout in the second round.

Personal life

Carwin is divorced and has a son from a previous marriage. He has a daughter named Alexia, born on February 24, 2010.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time) ** Knockout of the Night (One time) *Ring of Fire **ROF Heavyweight Championship (One time)

Amateur wrestling

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Wrestling Hall of Fame (2011) **NCAA Division II Wrestling Heavyweight Champion (1999) **NCAA Division II National Wrestling Heavyweight Runner-Up (1996, 1997) **NCAA Division II All American (1996, 1997, 1999) *Western State College **Western State College Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame (2004) *

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

**Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (2010)

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

Shane Carwin Profile at the National Wrestling Hall of FameShane Carwin's BlogMiddleEasy.com Interview
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carwin, Shane 1975 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Colorado Heavyweight mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Colorado Mines Orediggers wrestlers Colorado School of Mines alumni Western Colorado University alumni Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu