UFC 131: The Three Ways Shane Carwin vs Junior Dos Santos Can Go Down

The two biggest punchers in the UFC heavyweight division will be headlining UFC 131 in an exciting matchup that is guaranteed to produce fireworks.

Both men produce brutal first round KOs on the regular.

That being said, there are three distinct ways that this fight could go down based on their styles.

Carwin is a plodding wrestler with unparalleled power in his fists, while Dos Santos is an agile boxer who supplements the tremendous power in his fists with excellent combos and angles.

At the highest levels of the sport, a decision is always a possibility, but I would not bet on it.

These are the three ways that I see Carwin vs Dos Santos being finished.

First Minute or Two

Some think that this is where Carwin has an edge, but if the fight ends in the first two minutes, it will probably be Dos Santos by brutal TKO.

The reasoning for this is that Junior Dos Santos is a well-oiled machine and Carwin might have a few things stacked against him in the first minute or so.

For one thing, in his fight against Gabriel Gonzaga, Carwin got immediately rocked by punches from Gonzaga. If he lets Dos Santos do the same thing, he will probably get put away.

Secondly, Carwin is coming off of major surgery and the first devastating loss of his career. It could affect him in a number of ways.

If either man is susceptible to a quick KO in the first minute, it would have to be Carwin.

Middle to Late First Round

Once Carwin gets his diesel engine fired up, he can put anyone in the sport away.

If Carwin starts landing some punches on Dos Santos, he can finish in the first round with a brutal KO.

Dos Santos can definitely take a punch, but if Carwin lands, we might see Dos Santos rocked for the first time. If that happens, expect Carwin to pick his shots a lot more carefully than in the Brock Lesnar fight.

If momentum starts swaying in the favor of Carwin, he has the ability to out wrestle Dos Santos and finish the job on the ground.

We have not seen much from Dos Santos on the ground and so we have no reason to expect that his composure will be elite if he is rocked and on the bottom of a heavier fighter and superior wrestler.

After the First Round

Dos Santos is a proven threat through all three rounds while Carwin absolutely crumbled the first time he went past round number one.

Past the first round, expect Dos Santos to wear Carwin down and find a submission or TKO victory.

If Carwin tires out, there is no way he will be able to withstand the constant pressure from Junior Dos Santos's punches.

When Carwin tries to take the fight to the ground, he had better be careful because it is also expected that Dos Santos has a more dangerous submission game.