With an NCAA Division II wrestling championship, recognition as a two-time All-American in football, a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles, and degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Technology, you would think that maybe, just maybe, Shane Carwin has enough of a resume at 33 to settle into civilian life with his son and fiancée and breathe a satisfied sigh of accomplishment.
Nope. Not this guy.
“Everybody has hobbies in their life, and competing just happens to be mine,” said Carwin, an unbeaten heavyweight mixed martial artist who will make his UFC debut this weekend against Christian Wellisch. “It’s something that I love to do and I’m always asking myself if I’m ever gonna grow out of that. I’ve got to grow up someday (Laughs) but I enjoy it and I’ve been blessed with the gifts God has given me and I’ll continue this stuff as long it allows.”
And just so we don’t get our signals crossed here, telling a feel-good story of a guy who has managed some success in MMA while juggling a full-time job as an engineer, Carwin comes to the UFC not as some weekend warrior, but as a serious prospect that has received a lot of positive notices from people in this business who know what they’re talking about. They’re even throwing the ol’ ‘Next Big Thing’ tag around when the name of Carwin comes up.
“I really haven’t heard any of that buzz,” he admits. “I don’t really pay attention or get online that much. I work a full-time job and I’m trying to train full-time too and raise a son, so that takes up all my time.”
He’s not kidding. While conducting this interview, Carwin had just left work and was on his way to his son’s soccer practice. After that, it was off to the gym with Denver trainer Trevor Wittman for an evening far removed from that of most 9 to 5ers. It makes you appreciate what Carwin can do in competition even more.
“It’s time management, and sometimes it can be tough coming into work the next day after a good, hard sparring session,” he laughs. “But things at the office are good, and everybody’s excited there for me, so it helps to have a supportive cast around me, and they’re pretty lenient on me with my time and me making up comp time, so I’m in a real favorable position with the job that I have.”
The job Carwin has is working for a water district, where he developed and works on their hydraulic model while also doing infrastructure reviews. It’s a left hook to the liver of those who disparage pro athletes, and oddly enough, he ended up here after falling short of an NFL career.
A middle linebacker for Western State College, Carwin played in the Senior Bowl, and competed in the Indianapolis combine despite three bulging discs in his back. But he was never drafted by an NFL team.
“I was projected to go in the fifth round and it never happened,” he recalled. “I ended up being cleared and I wrestled my senior year. Before one of my wrestling matches, I tried out for the Eagles. They ended up hooking me up with the (Arena football league’s) New England Sea Wolves, but at the same time I was working a deal with the Colorado School of Mines just to be a grad assistant and go to school there and I opted to get my engineering degree instead.”
Good call. But Carwin’s competitive drive didn’t die on the gridiron. After wrestling he did whatever he could to stay active, including intramural basketball (he wasn’t a guy you wanted to battle in the paint against) and a new love that he came to three years ago – mixed martial arts.
He was a quick study in MMA, something he owes to his wrestling background.
“I would have to say a lot of it is work ethic,” said Carwin. “You’re in there and you’ve got coaches yelling down your back and wrestling has never been looked at as a glamorous sport. Oftentimes, you never did it for anybody but yourself, but you were always there for your teammates. Wrestling is definitely a very disciplined sport and along with the wrestlers comes a lot of mental toughness. There are also a lot of other good things that come out of wrestling – you know where your body is in space, you know leverage and balance and a lot of other good things that can help you out in MMA.”
Carwin made his MMA debut in October of 2005 with a 2:11 win over Carlton Jones, and he hasn’t been pushed that far since when it comes to his subsequent seven victories, all of which have ended in the first round. The longest bout since his debut was a 1:41 TKO of UFC vet Sherman Pendergarst last December, and he even put together a three fight streak where opponents only lasted 31, 29, and 49 seconds.
“When I get in there, that guy’s trying to rip my head off and I’m trying to do the same to him, so I’m gonna give a hundred percent and that’s all that I can ask of myself,” said Carwin of a fighting philosophy that garnered an invite to the UFC this weekend to take on Wellisch, who rebounded from a loss to Cheick Kongo in his Octagon debut to win two in a row over Anthony Perosh and Scott Junk.
“Christian comes from AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) so he’s got great trainers and great training partners and I’m sure that he’s getting pushed in the gym,” said Carwin. “I think Christian is well rounded and he’s a good fighter. But I’m there to do my thing and I’m gonna go out there and enjoy this and I’m there because I love the sport and that’s a big part of it for me. I’m gonna just get after it. I wish the fight was today.”
Is he ready for the UFC though, not just the level of competition but the big fight atmosphere that goes along with it?
“I think I put my time in and I’ve definitely got some training partners here that are tough as well and I feel as prepared as I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’ve trained like I’ve never trained before and this is just a real big opportunity for me and I’m gonna take advantage of every possibility that’s out there for me in this situation. I’m real excited, and to tell you the truth it’s a real dream come true because I said that this is the one place where I wanted to end up if I was gonna continue fighting, and if that didn’t happen, then I would just go on and continue my full-time job.”
But if Shane Carwin lives up to all his advance notices, he may very well have a new full-time gig – in the Octagon.
“Whoever they put in front of me, I’ll work my way up the ladder however they see it,” he said. “It’s like they say in wrestling, it’s the first round of the National Championships. I’ll go in there and perform and we’ll move on after that.”
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