The Weekly Wrap: Aug. 15 - Aug. 21

Lesnar vs. Carwin

The UFC announced several significant moves relative to pay-per-view this past week, shaking up the heavyweight title picture and announcing it would air a live prelim fight special on Spike TV before UFC 103.

The company confirmed Brock Lesnar would face Shane Carwin for the heavyweight title at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. The fight takes a Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez fight -- set for UFC 104 in October -- off the table. Sherdog.com reported that Ben Rothwell, the defunct International Fight League’s standout heavyweight and former Affliction fighter, was offered the fight with Velasquez in his UFC debut. The bout would be a significant step up from Rothwell’s originally scheduled fight with lesser-known Chase Gormley at UFC 104. Gormley will now face Stefan Struve at UFC 104, according to Fighters Only. Rothwell and Gormley were to fight on the Affliction “Trilogy” card on Aug. 1.

The Lesnar vs. Carwin fight, coupled with the reported return of Tito Ortiz to the UFC on the show against Mark Coleman, puts UFC 106 in a position to be one of the more successful pay-per-views of the year, as both Lesnar and Ortiz are arguably two of the biggest pay-per-view draws in the sport today. Until Lesnar’s fight with Frank Mir at UFC 100 in July shattered it, Ortiz’s fight with Chuck Liddell in December 2006 held the record for the most-bought pay-per-views in UFC history. After his performance and buzz-about antics at UFC 100, which at last estimates drew between 1.55 and 1.7 million buys, Lesnar appears to be in a position to draw a bigger audience than ever.

The UFC this week also announced a move designed to bolster interest in the UFC 103 pay-per-view from Dallas, which takes place the same night as boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather’s first fight in 21 months against Juan Manuel Marquez. Two preliminary fights -- Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller and Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal -- will air on Spike TV at 9 p.m., an hour before the pay-per-view goes live. The prelim special is likely designed to serve as a last-minute entrée for fans who are on the fence to purchase the card, which is headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort.