Veteran fighter knows Lesnar, Carwin

Of the 15,000 or so people who will be in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night for the Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin UFC heavyweight title unification match, former UFC fighter Ron Waterman may have the most insight into both men.

The 44-year-old Waterman is believed to be the only person who has been a good friend and a training partner with both. And because of that, he was the conduit when the two cage giants first met, at a gym in Greeley, Colo., in 2004, before either was even talking about competing in the sport – Lesnar was a star in World Wrestling Entertainment at the time and Carwin was working as an engineer.

"Brock came to Greeley when he had a weekend off and stayed at my house," said Waterman. "When we went to the gym, Shane was there. I introduced the two and it was very interesting. They talked, mostly about common opponents they had both wrestled in college, like Stephen Neal [the current New England Patriot who defeated both men as a college wrestler]." Waterman has known Carwin for nearly two decades, first as his high school wrestling coach. He noted Carwin in high school wrestled at 171 pounds, even though he should have wrestled at 185, making the cut because the team had another good wrestler to fill the slot at the heavier weight.

Carwin left Greeley to attend Western State College, and became a Division II national wrestling champion and All-American linebacker. He then returned to Greeley after a failed NFL tryout to begin engineering work. Carwin's entry to the MMA world came as Waterman’s training partner when the latter was competing as a fighter with the PRIDE organization in Japan.

Carwin made his debut by luck of the draw. There was a late opening for a heavyweight on a World Extreme Cagefightering show in Oct. 2005 in Lemoore, Calif., and he decided to take the fight. After 2:11 of ground-and-pound, he had his first win, defeating Carlton Jones.

After seven more wins, none of which reached the two-minute mark, he got the call from UFC, where he continued his string of first-round victories.

The relationship between Carwin and Waterman has come full circle, as three days a week for the past several months, Waterman, who is 6-foot-2 and close to 300 pounds, would try and play the role of Brock Lesnar in Carwin's training.

One of his key roles in camp has been to get on top of Carwin, in side control, with Waterman’s goal to pound on Carwin from that position the way Lesnar would.

"His defense has gotten good enough that he’s very difficult to hit from that position," Waterman noted.

But Waterman does predict at some point the fight will end up with Lesnar on top of Carwin.

"Brock is the only guy I’ve ever trained with who could take me down at will," he noted. "He’s a freak athlete. He was 300 pounds and could do a back flip."

But he noted that taking someone down in an MMA match, because of the ability to use fists and feet, is more difficult than in a wrestling match.

Waterman met Lesnar a decade ago when both were based in Louisville under developmental training contracts for the WWE. Lesnar, who doesn’t make a lot of friends, gravitated toward Waterman since Waterman was a college wrestler, like himself, as well as a wrestling coach, and had been a UFC regular before signing with WWE.

In Louisville, the two went to the gym to lift weights daily, did some legitimate wrestling training together, as well as pro wrestling training. Most nights, the pair would go on the road and do pro wrestling matches.

"It was hard and Brock, like a lot of the college wrestlers, would never complain about being hurt," Waterman said of the pro wrestling training. "Some of the bodybuilders, even some of the football players, they’d get hurt, complain and skip practice."

But he noted Carwin balances working a job, driving an hour each way from Greeley to Denver to train after work, while also raising a family, noting he’s got the some focus and determination to succeed that Lesnar has.

"Physically, the two guys are almost exactly alike," said Waterman. "And from a personality standpoint, they couldn’t be more opposite."

Carwin is quiet, speaks in measured tones, and Waterman noted that even with his success as becoming one of the toughest men on the planet, he is the same humble, coachable athlete he was when they first met.

Lesnar is not as social, but can be a bombastic talker. The South Dakota native says what he feels, but just doesn’t like being around people he doesn’t know.

In doing so, Lesnar has created a unique aura in the fighting world. Lesnar is the guy who millions will be watching on Saturday night, most hoping to see him lose more than they are interested in whether Carwin can win. It’s that dynamic that has made Lesnar the biggest pay-per-view draw in MMA history. Most insiders expect Saturday’s show to be near the top of the list of most-purchased shows in UFC history, even more impressive since it’s a show with nothing close to a strong marquee match underneath.

But if you speculate that Lesnar’s WWE training and background created this persona, Waterman laughs.

"People think that, that he’s some guy playing a pro wrestling character," said Waterman. "That’s Brock. That’s not a guy playing a character. He’s a very competitive person. And I’ve never met anyone who hates to lose like he does."

Waterman noted Lesnar from the start expressed interest in MMA, which back in 2000 was not a sport with much popularity or where there was much money to be made.

"He told me that if this (pro wrestling) doesn’t work out, he’d be interested in fighting," said Waterman.

Pro wrestling at first seemed to work out for Lesnar. He physically adapted quickly and was a major star in that world. Waterman said the two kept in contact regularly during his WWE tenure, and Lesnar never warned him he was going to quit, but Waterman said he could see it coming.

"Brock is not a people person, and that’s the entertainment business," he said.

Waterman’s take on the fight is not much different than most people. He sees somebody landing a huge right hand and finishing the fight from there. He notes Carwin’s stand-up has improved greatly over the past two years, working with coach Trevor Wittman.

"I’ve never been hit by anyone harder," Waterman said about Carwin’s big punch, which he said is stronger now because of the technical improvements he’s made. "That’s with 16-ounce gloves and headgear on," as opposed to the four-ounce, size XXXXXL gloves he'll wear Saturday night [Lesnar wears size XXXXL].

But Waterman gives the wrestling edge to Lesnar. He said Carwin has no issues with cardio in the gym, and he can do five rounds or more training in the thin Colorado air, but said that in a fight, he can say from personal experience that it’s a different game and that Carwin is untested because of all his quick victories.

There is also the issue of pressure. Carwin, he notes, has up to this point, always handled pressure well. But this is something at a completely different level than anything he’s experienced. Lesnar, on the other hand, has been in big spotlight events for the past 11 years, from his Division I national tournaments before 15,000 fans, to stadium wrestling events before 50,000 fans and headlining UFC 100 against Frank Mir, the biggest event in the sport’s history.

But when put on the spot and asked to pick a winner, Waterman stays loyal to his current training partner: "After training with him, I don’t see how anyone in the world right now can beat Shane."