Shane Carwin agrees to fight Frank Mir in March

By Brett Okamoto

Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 | 1:53 p.m.

Shane Carwin says that he’s agreed to meet Frank Mir at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, N.J. Carwin broke the news on his official Web site, shane-carwin.com.

“I expect to make my return to the UFC in March 2010,” Carwin wrote. “I will be fighting in Newark, N.J. at UFC 111. I have not signed any contracts yet but I have told my manager to inform UFC matchmaker that ‘I accept the offer.’”

Although excited by the rumors of a meeting with Carwin, Mir told the Las Vegas Sun on Wednesday afternoon that he was trying to get in touch with UFC officials and that he hadn't been contacted yet about the fight.

"Nothing is official yet, I'm reading the Internet too and trying to call the UFC," Mir said. "I will agree to it if it comes up. I just think people were talking and it made sense but nothing is official. They haven't talked to me yet but I don't know if somebody with the UFC has leaked it out."

Although it's not official, Mir said he does expect his next fight to be against Carwin. Carwin originally had been scheduled to fight champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 106 in November. However, that fight was canceled when Lesnar was forced to pull out because of an intestinal illness.

With Lesnar out there currently are four major players in the UFC heavyweight division: Mir, Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Mir said that a matchup between himself and Carwin makes the most sense with Nogueira and Velasquez already scheduled to meet at UFC 110.

"I think it's the only thing that makes sense," Mir said. "Carwin is up there, I'm up there. There's four top heavyweights that could vie for an interim belt and two of them are fighting already. So putting me and Carwin together just makes mathematical sense.

Mir said he was puzzled by the rumors that the fight would be for the UFC heavyweight interim title, since UFC president Dana White recently said the decision to create an interim belt wouldn't be made until more info on Lesnar's medical condition was known.

"The only part that was a surprise to me was that it could be for an interim belt," Mir said. "Last I heard, I was sitting next to Dana at the (UFC 107) post-fight press conference when he said we're going to wait for 4-to-6 weeks to find out whether or not Brock's going to be able to return or not."

Carwin (11-0) hasn’t fought since recording a knockout win over Gabriel Gonzaga on March 7.

Despite the long layoff, Carwin promised his fans that he would enter the fight well-prepared.

“I will have been out of the Octagon for about a year when this fight happens,” Carwin wrote. “But I expect to be in the best shape of my life.

“I have a ton of respect for my proposed opponent. The only way to become the best fighter is to continually challenge yourself against the best fighters in the world.”

The respect is mutual between the two fighters, as Mir described Carwin as 'a better version of Brock Lesnar.'

"He's a great athlete and a big powerful guy," Mir said. "He's got all the attributes that Brock has except he's a bit more experienced. I don't think anybody would say that Brock's standup is better than Carwin's, if anything Carwin is the better boxer. He has better movement.

"We've also seen he can handle adversity better. The only time Brock was in trouble was when I got him in a kneebar and he self-admittedly tapped too soon. That came out of his own mouth. Whereas in Carwin's last fight, Gonzaga caught him, Carwin was on his back, Gonzaga jumped on top of him, and Carwin fought back to the top position and knocked him out. So, I know what Carwin does in adversity, he fights back.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Also follow him on twitter: LVSunFighting.