UFC 131: Shane Carwin Comments on Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar's Illness

The main event for UFC 131 was scheduled to be Brock Lesnar vs. Junior dos Santos, but has now been changed to Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos. Lesnar is being forced out of the fight due to a flare up of diverticulitis.

Carwin, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion himself, was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131, but was informed by his manager that he would instead be bumped up to the main event.

The news actually came as a surprise to Carwin, who had no idea about the situation until his manager informed him. 

"I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva," Carwin said on his blog. "I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar's spot for 131."

The timing was actually convenient for Carwin, given that he was preparing for a fight and will just need to change the focus of his training. Dos Santos will need to do the same.

"Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it.  This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title.  I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain."

Despite losing his last fight in the Octagon to Lesnar, Carwin gave his best wishes his former foe as he prepared to take his place.

"I hope Brock is able to recover.  I look forward to facing him again one day."