Lesnar confirmed the matchup via his Twitter page.  The event is expected to take place on October 23 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Lesnar is coming off his most impressive victory to-date, coming back from a first round beatdown at the hands of Shane Carwin to secure an arm triangle submission victory in the 2nd.

The bout was only his sixth professional fight, pushing his overall record to 5-1.

Velasquez, meanwhile, remains unbeaten at 8-0.  Training out of American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, Velasquez cemented his status as no.1 contender with a devastating first round TKO of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 in February. 

He also holds notable wins over Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothwell.

UFC 121 will be broadcast live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.

In an action-packed, back-and-forth battle, co-headliners Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama received one of the “Fight of the Night” bonuses.  Leben, stepping in for an injured Wanderlei Silva, was able to secure a triangle choke late in the third round for the win.

In a light heavyweight rematch bout, Stephan Bonnar and Kryzsztof Soszynski went at it for two rounds, before Bonnar was able to finish Soszynski with punches.  Both received “Fight of the Night” as well.

In the highly anticipated headline bout for the heavyweight title, champion Brock Lesnar survived a dominating first round from Shane Carwin to come back and secure an arm triangle, forcing Carwin to tap.  He received “Submission of the Night” for his efforts.

“Knockout of the Night” was found on the undercard in a bout televised on Spike TV, as Gerald Harris slammed his opponent Dave Branch to the mat in the third round knocking him unconscious.  It was Harris’ 10th consecutive victory.

Late last year, Lesnar was diagnosed  with the intestinal disease diverticulitis, an illness that almost ended his career, and certainly altered his life.

“I really went back to the drawing board on life, you know, when I was sick,” Lesnar told reporters in promotion of his fight.  “I had to focus on a lot of different things.  I mean, my life first and my family and all these other things.

“And when I finally got down and decided that I could fight and continue this legacy, I thought, ‘You know what, I’ve got to make some changes. I want to get better. When I come back I want to be in greater shape. I want to be a better fighter.’”

Lesnar’s recovery and subsequent newfound perspective on life has extended to his career, where the usually brash fighter has kept the trash talk about his opponent Shane Carwin to a minimum.

“It’ll be a year since I stepped foot in the Octagon and I don’t really have a lot to talk about,” Lesnar stated.  “There’s no animosity against Shane other than he’s an opponent in front of me that, you know, is just an obstacle that I’ve got to overcome like I overcame my diverticulitis.”

With a new lease on life and his fighting career, Lesnar decided to bring in former opponent Randy Couture to help him push his training methods to new heights.

 ”You know, Randy’s a once in a lifetime kind of guy. I mean he’s 45 years old and he’s still fighting and I brought him here and I was very impressed with Randy, how he trains still and how he just–he’s 45 years old and this guy comes in and he’s a grinder man,” Lesnar said.

“He taught me a lot of different things.  There’s a lot of tricks to the trade and Randy’s one of those guys that he wasn’t always the biggest guy but he fights very smart.

“And it was very refreshing. When Randy Couture comes into your gym, you have to raise your intensity level. It’s one of those things were he just brings his ambience into the gym and everybody that’s in there raises their game.”

Brock Lesnar faces Shane Carwin this Saturday, July 3 against Shane Carwin for the UFC heavyweight championship.

Stay tuned to our UFC 116 section for all news related to the event.

Dubbed “The Biggest Heavyweight Fight Ever,” Lesnar and Carwin will battle it out on Saturday, July 3 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“When people wonder why the heavyweights capture the imagination of all fight fans, it’s because of guys like Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin,” said UFC President Dana White. “Not only are they great athletes and former national wrestling champions, but they both have the ability to end a fight with one punch. This is one of those fights that you won’t be able to turn away from because it can be over in a split second, and when it’s over, only one will walk away as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion of the world.”

Lesnar’s title-defense at UFC 116 will be his first fight since July 2009, after being sidelined with diverticulitis, a digestive disorder.

Carwin became the interim heavyweight title holder after his first round TKO of Frank Mir at UFC 111.  The victory over Mir was the longest Carwin has ever been in the cage,  as his 11 other victories have all come before the 2:15 mark of the first round.

Tickets for UFC 116 go on sale Thursday, May 13 at 10 a.m. PT and are available for purchase at www.ufc.com and www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC 116 will be broadcast live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.

Speaking with reporters at the UFC 111 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the Lesnar vs. Carwin matchup is likely for July, though a specific date has yet to be established.

Carwin became the interim heavyweight title holder after his first round TKO of Frank Mir this past Saturday at UFC 111.  The victory over Mir was the longest Carwin has ever been in the cage,  as his 11 other victories have all come before the 2:15 mark of the first round.

Lesnar has been sidelined since July 2009 when he defeated the aformentioned Mir to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

UFC 116 is rumored to take place on July 3, 2010 in Las Vegas.

UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be featured on the cover of the upcoming UFC video game UFC Undisputed 2010.

THQ, the makers of the title, announced the news yesterday.

UFC Undisputed 2010 is the follow-up to the highly-succesful 2009 game, which sold over 3.5 million copies and was voted Best Individual Sports Game at Spike TV’s Video Game Awards.

The 2010 edition will include over 100 UFC fighters, as well as commentary from UFC announcers Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan.

Set for release on May 25, the game will be available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles with a PSP edition available later this year.

After a lengthy absence from the sport due to a bout with diverticulitis–a digestive disease found in the large intestine–Lesnar announced his return to fighting last week on ESPN’s Sportscenter, and later in a conference call to reporters. Seizing the platform, Lesnar made a point to applaud the doctors who helped him recover, while stating his objection to the healthcare reform bill proposed by President Obama.

“President Obama is pushing this health care reform and I don’t want it,” said Lesnar. “I’m a conservative and I’m speaking on behalf of our doctors here in the U.S.”

Lesnar’s stance is likely attributed to the care, or his perceived lack thereof, he received while in Canada (Canada employs a publicly-funded healthcare system).

After calling-off his then-scheduled matchup with Shane Carwin, Lesnar headed across the border to Canada to do some hunting when his health deteriorated to the point that he admitted himself into a hospital there. Lesnar likened his time spent there to a “third world country.”

“I’m not bashing Canadian healthcare,” said Lesnar. “I’m a U.S. citizen. It just so happened that it happened there. If it was in Thailand I would’ve wanted to get back to the U.S. But there are millions of people that don’t want the healthcare and I’m one of them. I’m not a believer in socialism and what is going on.”

Lesnar was so unimpressed with the care he received while in Canada that he actually had his wife remove him from the hospital there and drive him across the border to North Dakota. Back in the U.S., Lesnar eventually was admitted to the famed Mayo Clinic where surgery to remove part of his colon was recommended–a decision which would have ended his career.

“I had a hole in my stomach basically,” Lesnar said. “What they wanted to do was go in and remove the bad section of my colon. I would have to wear a colostomy bag for 6-8 weeks. If I had the surgery I would’ve probably retired.”

Hoping to avoid surgery, Lesnar returned home, began working out, eating healthier, and letting prescribed antibiotics do their work. Upon returning to the hospital, doctors discovered that Lesnar had fully recovered and surgery was no longer necessary.

“I changed my diet and got on some natural medicine and started working out,” Lesnar said about his time away from the hospital. “I went back and it was gone and the doctors told me I didn’t need surgery.”

A follow-up appointment verified these findings and Lesnar was given a clean bill of health. Attributing some of his recovery to a more well-balanced diet–Lesnar said for years he was surviving on meat and potatoes–he also feels his regained health is a direct result of the healthcare opportunities available to him.

“People may say there is no way this could happen,” Lesnar said about his miraculous recovery. “But people come from all over the world to come to this Mayo Clinic.

“Insurance is expensive. We need some restructuring but we don’t need socialistic healthcare in America.”

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Lesnar stated that he will begin training this week, and is looking to continue his reign of the heavyweight division.

“I feel great now and I feel like my old self again,” said Lesnar. “I’ll be back in the gym Thursday morning, have a mini camp and get ready for anybody and everybody. I know one thing, all those guys are shitting their pants right now.”

Lesnar will next face the winner of the Frank Mir vs. Shane Carwin matchup, which takes place on March 27 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. Faced with the possibility of fighting Mir for the third time, Lesnar let it be known he’s ready to dish out more punishment.

“I don’t think I beat him as bad as I could,” Lesnar said about their last fight. “For me to get my hands on that stalker again–it’s been a while since I’ve had a stalker but I’ll take care of that if I ever fight him again.”

Lesnar officially announced his return to the UFC yesterday after months of speculation. Diagnosed with diverticulitis, a digestive disorder, Lesnar’s health began deteriorating rapidly while training for his title defense against Shane Carwin.

“I didn’t know what was wrong at first,” said Lesnar. “I was suffering almost a year with stomach pains and flu-like symptoms. During the training camp with Carwin is when it really snowballed. The last thing I wanted to do was come in and give a bad performance and lose my title.

“I kept going back to the doctor to pinpoint what was going wrong. They had a few diagnosis like mono or swine flu. Eventually I had to pull the pin and get away from it all.”

Lesnar stated that he lost around 40 pounds, weighing 248lbs at his lightest. However, now fully recovered, Lesnar said he has gained the weight back (he’s at 273lbs currently) and is ready to defend his title once again.

“Everybody has life changing experiences and this is one of them for me,” Lesnar said. “I believe things happen for a reason. I’m 32 years old and when you think you’re doing all the right things and something like this happens, obviously you’re not. I don’t want to be back in that position ever again. I’m making changes for the better.

“I know the heavyweight division is on its toes again cause Brock Lesnar is back.”

UFC president Dana White spoke with ESPN’s Sportscenter and stated that though the surgery was only minor, a timetable for his return remains unclear.

“He has been in the hospital for twelve days and had minor surgery, we thought he might have to have major surgery. He is not out of the woods yet, he is going to go home and rest for a couple of days and then we will probably have him go over to the Mayo Clinic and get him checked out,” White said.

White also spoke with doctors who cared for Lesnar, who stated that he likely has had this issue for some time, leaving him more susceptible to other illnesses, which explains the reports of Lesnar contracting Mono and the H1N1 virus.

At this point it remains unclear when Lesnar will return, and if the UFC will begin planning to crown an interim champion.

Heavyweight contender Shane Carwin–who was originally set to face Lesnar at UFC 106–remains without an opponent, but would likely factor into any interim title talks.

In a post to his official webpage, Carwin confirmed that the bout is not happening anytime soon.

“Guys my manager Jason Genet just told me that UFC 108 is not happening,” Carwin posted. “Brock has Mono and what the UFC has told me is that I have earned the title shot but I have to wait for the title holder.”

Lesnar and Carwin were originally scheduled to clash at UFC 106 later this month, however it was revealed last week that Lesnar was suffering from an illness and would have to withdraw. Though never officially announced, the bout was then re-scheduled for UFC 108 in January.

Unfortunately, that has now been postponed as well until Lesnar regains his health.

To view Carwin’s post, please visit www.shane-carwin.com.