- Shane Carwin was recently interviewed by bleacherreport.com, here are the highlights:

On Defending Brock Lesnar: I certainly think Brock gives the fans plenty to pick at when he is healthy and able to defend himself. Here is a guy who not only is so sick he can’t fight, but he may never fight again. He has spent a lot of his life being a professional athlete, and then all of a sudden he is at risk of losing his ability to compete. I felt compelled to make sure that people knew I didn’t feel that Brock was “ducking me” or any of the other crazy things that were being said. Brock is a warrior, and I do not see him ducking anyone.

On Fighting For An Interim Title: Titles are not important to me. The interim title is second place with a medal. I am already in that spot (the No. 1 contender spot), and I do not mind fighting to protect that spot, but I do not need a glorified trophy to do it. The champion is Brock, and he has the only belt that should matter to any fighter in the heavyweight division. I do not want to be the glorified contender, I want to be the guy that went in and fought the best guy in our division for the most prestigious prize in our sport. Until then, I am just another UFC heavyweight at the top of the division waiting for a fight.

On Being Disappointed In Fedor Signing With Strikeforce: Only because I would like to fight the guy. He is one of the best P4P in the world and as a heavyweight, he is the standard. If you are a true competitor you would want to face Fedor and test yourself against one of the greatest fighters of all time. Fedor could technically be considered undefeated: He has 30 fights and will go down as one of the legends of our sport. Strikeforce has a huge viewing audience, and they are willing to co-promote with M1. I suspect CBS will realize what they have in Fedor and will increase their marketing of him and Strikeforce.

On Not Fighting in Nine Months: Not really; we train hard at Grudge Training Center, and it’s not like I am taking time off. The other way to see it is I have had to get ready for two different fighters over three training camps and how much that has improved my game?

On The Heavyweights From This year’s Ultimate Fighter: They need to get that cardio up for sure. Guys like Cain Velasquez have unlimited gas tanks, and you do not want to gas against the UFC’s elite heavyweights. I think some of those guys are going to be a force in the division, and I look forward to seeing them rise to the top.