Shane Carwin – Here I Come UFC
By Dave Carpinello
PunchDrunkGamer’s Dave Carpinello had a chance to talk with UFC newcomer Shane Carwin about his upcoming debut, training, UFC 83 and his career so far.
PDG: Let’s start with your training; who are you training with and where?
Shane: I train at T’s K.O. Fight Club in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and my head trainer for boxing is Trever Whitman. Christian Allen is my trainer for jui-jitsu and conditioning and I also work quite a bit with Nate Marquardt. When I have time, I go up to Greeley, CO and train with the University of Northern Colorado wrestlers.
PDG: With about a month to go until your fight; what is your training schedule like now?
Shane: It has picked up, I usually the do my weight lifting and conditioning on my lunch break. Then my night workouts are all about technique training, sparring and grappling.
PDG: So you’re still working a regular job during the day?
Shane: Yes, I am a full time engineer. I got my engineering degrees from Colorado School of Mines and Western State College.
PDG: When you get closer to your fight, are you going to take more time off to train and prepare?
Shane: That is what I will be using my vacation days for.
PDG: You have been in mixed martial arts for almost 3 years now; what got you started?
Shane: I was a National Champion wrestler in college and after that Ron Waterman asked me to come in and work wrestling with some of his fighters. Once I saw all the things that they were doing I got very interested, and it took off from there.
PDG: Since this is going to be your first fight in the UFC; what are some things that most fans don’t know about you?
Shane: I would say a lot of people don’t know about my education. Since I am new, there is probably going to be a lot of unknown. I have a lot of heart, determination and self preservation.
PDG: Out of your eight professional fights, only one has gone longer than two minutes. How is your conditioning in case this fight lasts longer?
Shane: I think that right now I am in the best shape of my life. I feel great, I’m eating healthy and I am definitely ready for this opportunity. I got my weight down to about 260, so I won’t have to worry about cutting before the fight.
PDG: You have three victories by TKO and the other five are by submission. How do you prefer to finish a fight and you feel more comfortable standing or on the ground?
Shane: I don’t have any preference about where or how the fight is finished. The guy across the cage from you is trying to tear your head off and you are trying to do the same to him. All I care about is that I give 100% every time.
PDG: What do you know about your opponent for UFC 84, Christian Wellisch?
Shane: Christian comes from a great camp, American Kickboxing Academy. I know that he has a lot of great training partners and great trainers. He is a well-rounded fighter both standing and on the ground.
PDG: Do you see any advantages that you may have going into the fight?
Shane: I am taking this fight just like any of my previous ones. I am going to go out there and perform and I really don’t concern myself with what my opponent is going to do. It is all about what I want to do to them.
PDG: What fighters, past or present have you looked up to?
Shane: Definitely Fedor Emelianenko and Nate Marquardt, who recently lost his title fight with Anderson Silva. He is very talented though and is working his way back up for another shot at the title.
PDG: Silva has pretty much been running through everyone that the UFC puts in front of him.
Shane: Yeah, so far he has looked real good.
PDG: Did you watch UFC 83 last weekend?
Shane: Definitely, Nate also trains with Georges St. Pierre. So I was watching it because in the couple weeks I will be going down to Greg Jackson’s camp to train with all those guys including Keith Jardine.
PDG: Overall, what did you think of the fights?
Shane: There were some good fights, GSP dominated in his fight. Rich Franklin looked really good and some of the undercard fights were great to watch.
PDG: As a professional fighter; what did you think of the Khalib Starnes – Nate Quarry fight?
Shane: Well, that is not my style of fighting. To each his own but I don’t think that is anybody’s style of fighting.
PDG: Do you play any video games?
Shane: I play every once in a while when I have the time. Right now, I have the Nintendo Wii and probably my favorite game is the Wii Sports Game. I used to play a lot more videogames back when I was in college.
PDG: Cool, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Shane: Yes, thanks for the interview and I want to say thanks to Grudge Fightwear for all of the support they have given me.
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