Shane Carwin Plans To Return To His Old Ways Inside The Cage

Source: MMA Mania

Shane Carwin knows just how talented and deep the UFC's heavyweight division is. Carwin has been inside the Octagon against the likes of Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos.

But, since starting his MMA career 12-0, including claiming a share of the UFC heavyweight title on an interim basis with his win over Mir, Carwin has dropped his last two fights, falling to Lesnar via submission and dos Santos by decision.

Those defeats have fueled the 36-year-old former NCAA Div. II national champion to get back to his previous ways of fighting. Carwin also was a national runner-up twice and is a member of the hall of fame.

"Overall, I think I've just got to go back to being a little more aggressive as a fighter," said Carwin, in a recent interview with MMAMania.com. "As long as I stay passionate about who I am as a fighter, as long as I still love it, then things will be fine."

Since the loss to dos Santos in June, Carwin has been recovering and training, while also working his full-time job as an engineer. His plans are to return to action either late this year or early in 2012.

"We'll see what the UFC has lined up for me," Carwin said. "I'm not in camp right now, but I'm working on the things I need to be working on to stay competitive. It's really up to the UFC, I'm taking it fight-by-fight."

Dana Becker is a staff writer for FightLine.com. He can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DanaBecker.