Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has signed for Japanese promotion Rizin FF and has immediately been installed in their ongoing open-weight tournament.
The first round of the tournament has already taken place, with Mirko Cro Cop Vs Wanderlei Silva already having been confirmed for the second round, with the other match-ups still to be decided for the December 29th show in Saitama.
That leaves Carwin with the possibility of facing the likes of Valentin Moldavsky, Amir Aliakbari, Jiri Prochazka, Szymon Bzor, or ‘Baruto’.
It’s likely that the aforementioned fighters won’t exactly be in a rush to face Carwin given the fighters fearsome physique and notorious punching power that’s been responsible for brutal first round knockout wins against the likes of Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga in the UFC.
Carwin did display cardio deficiencies during a two-fight slump at the end of the his UFC career however, and he’s been out of the sport for over five years since then after opting to retire, so it remains to be seen just how dominant a force he will be in the present day.
That being said, he did give a brief reminder of what he’s capable of a couple of weeks ago when he fought ‘shock jock’ Jason Ellis in an exhibition match with one hand tied to his body, and still managed to knock him out in the second round.
