More than one million people are expected to purchase the pay per view, and it will almost assuredly be the biggest UFC event of the year. Lesnar’s polarizing image will ensure that even mainstream outlets like ESPN will provide heavy coverage of the fight, giving Carwin the kind of high-profile stage reserved for the biggest stars of the sport. A victory over Lesnar would instantly turn the Greeley native into one of the biggest heavyweight attractions on the planet, but Carwin says he’s not feeling any extra pressure.
“No, I think it feels the same. Like I said before, when you get to the UFC, all of these guys are dangerous. I think the most nerves I’ve had was when I was fighting Gonzaga,” Carwin says. “You watch that Cro Cop head kick ten or twelve times and it will freak out anybody.”
Carwin’s intense dislike for Lesnar is well-known. It can be traced back to the last time Lesnar stepped in the cage, one year ago at UFC 100. After pounding Frank Mir into oblivion, Lesnar went on a post-fight tirade, screaming in Mir’s face, shooting middle fingers at the booing fans in attendance and cutting an interview insulting everybody from Mir to UFC sponsors. Carwin is a big believer in respecting your opponents, in giving them credit for competing with you, and he held nothing back when vocalizing his opinion on Lesnar’s actions.
That opinion hasn’t changed much in the past year.
“I compare it to the work world. We all work with people we like and we all work with people we dislike a lot. I don’t care for Brock’s attitude and I don’t care for how he treats people and how he disrespects people,” Carwin says. “If we were in the workplace, I probably wouldn’t talk to the guy or have anything to do with him. And it’s the same here.”
Carwin’s dislike for Lesnar’s attitude fuels his training. There would be nothing sweeter, he says, than knocking Lesnar out cold and taking the heavyweight title.
“It would be a dream come true, the culmination of a life’s work that has gone into athletics and working hard and believing in yourself. I think there’s a lot of life lessons to be learned there,” he says. “But more than anything, at the end of the day I have God and my family, and that’s what I’ll have in ten years when this is over.”