Lesnar is still the champ and maybe a bit more humble, via Cagewriter

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There will be a lot of stories coming away from UFC 116, and a lot of them being about Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin in what was yet another main event to unify the UFC Heavyweight Championship, and after the fall of Fedor Emelianenko, find out who the undisputed number one heavyweight in the world is. But there is something about this show that comes across odd to me, as first of all, I wasn't quite sold on the lead-in for the fight. The heat wasn't there, as many have pointed out, neither Lesnar or Carwin really did any media appearances for the fight, which obviously takes away some heat, but there was something else. As much as many will refuse to admit it, Strikeforce having Fedor fight just a week before and him losing seemed to really divert attention away from tonight's UFC bout. 

All of Lesnar's interviews coming into the fight felt different as well. Everybody remembers the build to the UFC 100 showdown between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, where Mir did an incredible job of selling the fight and inciting Lesnar. There was a moment on the countdown show where Lesnar got so upset that he punched a door off of its hinges watching Frank Mir talk about how Lesnar was an unskilled ape which really helped sell Lesnar as the unstoppable beast of a champion. Then, of course, his postfight antics really just hit it out of the park. Things changed, though, and quickly, when Brock became ill and his illness became a very public story. This countdown show didn't feature Brock ripping doors off of hinges, instead it talked about his health problems and how thankful he was for his friends and his family and to be alive. 

This was step one in the process of humanizing Brock Lesnar. 

Then came the fight. You could feel the anticipation leading into the fight, and of course there were lots of questions revolving around Brock's health and just how good Carwin is. There was also pressure, as the man who won this was, in everybody's eyes except maybe Josh Barnett, the greatest heavyweight in the world. Shane Carwin came into this fight with a lot to prove and he came out guns blazing, overwhelming the champion with easily a 10-8 round, in a first round which will garner some attention as there will be many who question the ref not stopping the fight, but for now, it happened, get over it. That first round did more to humanize and endear Brock Lesnar to fans than any marketing or media UFC could pressure him to do, as it showed Brock Lesnar was indeed human, much like Fedor Emelianenko was very clearly human and always found a way to overcome the odds.

Lesnar showed calm and restraint in the fight, he also showed weakness. In a way, Brock showed a lot of Fedor Emelianenko qualities by getting beaten on and looking out of it before he comes back for a skillful victory. Some might claim that Brock Lesnar showed some cracks, but the truth is, he showed that he is human and was able to shed some of the stigma of being the beast from WWE. How this holds up against an opponent with a bigger gas tank is the true test.

SBN coverage of UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin