Carwin Agrees to Return at UFC 131, Was Offered Nelson Bout

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Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin has agreed to make his Octagon return in June.

In a blog post on his official website, Carwin on Tuesday revealed that he “rapidly accepted” an offer to fight at UFC 131, an event expected to take place on June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

“As of this blog no opponent has been mentioned,” Carwin wrote.

The 36-year-old mechanical engineer also stated that he had agreed to a match with “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 winner Roy Nelson at UFC 130 on May 28. Carwin said that he was told the bout was “90% a go” before the UFC decided to go “a different direction” for Nelson, who is now rumored to face former champion Frank Mir at the event.

Carwin, who began his career with 12 straight first-round finishes, has not competed since suffering the first loss of his career to Brock Lesnar last July at UFC 116. After nearly finishing then-champion Lesnar in the first round of the title unification bout, Carwin tired and was submitted via arm-triangle choke in the second period.

“I am training hard and working on fixing the issues I ran into during the Lesnar fight,” wrote Carwin in the same post.

In August, Carwin’s name was reportedly included in a list of professional athletes who had received shipments in 2006 from J. Michael Bennett, an Alabama pharmacist convicted of participating in a nationwide anabolic steroid ring. Carwin has not tested positive for steroids or any banned substance in his MMA career.

Originally slated to face Nelson at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day, Carwin withdrew from that bout due to back pain. In November, Carwin underwent successful surgery to relieve pressure from his C5, 6 and 7 vertebrae.