Apparently, one of former UFC number one heavyweight contender Shane Carwin's sponsors have accused him of throwing his title fight against the former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Carwin confirmed he had been accused of throwing the fight against Lesnar at the UFC 116 MMA fight event via twitter.

Those who had the opportunity to watch the fight between Lesnar and Carwin at the UFC 116 MMA event will probably have a hard time believing Shane actually threw the match. In the first round of the highly anticipated MMA fight, Carwin threw huge punches at Lesnar's head, forcing the giant to cover up for a majority of the round. Carwin punished Lesnar so severely in the first round; many wondered why the referee never stepped in to stop the fight.

Accusing Carwin of throwing the fight, after coming so close to becoming the heavyweight champion, will probably not sit well with many MMA fans. It has even been reported that the MMA fighter plans to take his sponsor to court.

The sponsor accusing Carwin of throwing his UFC 116 MMA fight against Lesnar is yet to be named, but that will probably change in the future.

Unless the unnamed sponsor somehow has evidence that the Shane Carwin actually threw the fight, the attention generated by the accusations shouldn't really have an effect on the UFC's popularity. Most MMA fans will be inclined to take Carwin's word over his sponsor's.

If in some surprising twist of events, Carwin's sponsors can prove that he did in fact throw the fight against Brock Lesnar at the UFC 116 MMA fight event, the negative publicity of the scandal will probably affect the promotion's popularity. All past fights will immediately be questioned, and MMA fans will be less likely to spend their money on UFC events.

I'll be shocked if that turns out to be the case though, as it seems more like a sponsor trying to weasel out of a payment. Unless they have a taped conversation of Carwin admitting to throw the fight or something else along those lines, they'll have a rather tough time proving their case.

David is a Brazilian Jiu jitsu and boxing practitioner that has watched and studied MMA for the past 6 years.

Sources:

Fighters only, " Rumour: Carwin sponsor alleging he threw fight against Lesnar "

Fight and fighter information from sherdog.com

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Strikeforce welterweight fighter Paul Daley, got another opportunity to work with the Zuffa family, when the UFC's parent company acquired the MMA promotion.

Daley has already been part of the UFC, winning his first two fights in the MMA promotion. Daley was then released, due to a cheap shot he took after his three round fight with Josh Koscheck. While many MMA fans might point out that UFC President Dana White plays favorites with some of the fighters in the promotion, most would agree Daley's termination from the promotion was a good call.

Apparently, Daley doesn't seem to feel the same way. When Zuffa initially purchased the Strikeforce promotion, Daley considered backing out from his scheduled fight. Daley wasn't sure if he wanted to take the championship opportunity against fellow top MMA fighter Nick Diaz on April 9, which will now fall under the Zuffa banner. Daley felt his termination from the UFC was because Dana White had a problem with him, and not because of his actions. In his own words,

"If no explanation or reason is given for disliking me, I'm generally going to dislike someone in return. If Dana gives me an honest opinion -- aside from hitting Koscheck after the bell -- as to why he genuinely dislikes me, then at least I'd get some explanation"

While I was actually looking forward to Daley's return to the Zuffa family, his comments seem to indicate he hasn't really taken the time to reflect on the events that led to his termination from the UFC. Like a brat, he lashed out at Koscheck, who simply followed a smart game plan against the extremely dangerous striker.

Dana White doesn't dislike him for personal reasons. If anything, Daley would have been one of Whites favorites as his fighting style is extremely entertaining. No, White dislikes him because his behavior would be unacceptable in any professional sport. Sucker-punching your opponent after losing a fight is as low as it gets in professional sports. If an athlete in any other sport did the same, they probably wouldn't have a job either.

Sources:

Mike Chiappetta," Paul Daley Talks About Working With Zuffa, Dana White After UFC Ban "

With Phil Davis' hard earned victory against the always crafty Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, at the UFC Fight Night 24 MMA event; Davis is starting to solidify his place in the light-heavyweight division.

Davis came into the sport of MMA, with the same background many successful full-contact fighters have come from. Davis' accomplishments as a NCAA wrestler, indicates the 26 year old MMA fighter has what it takes to compete against other top athletes.

One of the things that impressed me about Phil Davis, watching his UFC fight night 24 match against Nogueira was his willingness to strike. For someone who came into MMA from wrestling, Davis has really developed a lot of confidence in his striking skills. Even when Nogueira surprisingly stuffed Davis' takedown attempts in the first round, he never panicked.

The fact that Davis wasn't worried about being on the ground with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira during their UFC fight night 24 MMA match was another good indicator of how far Davis' skills have come. Avoiding the ground game in a fight against anyone named Nogueira is always a smart game plan, yet Davis' was able to dive into the crafty veteran's world and come out unharmed.

If there was anything about Davis' performance in the UFC fight night 24 match against Nogueira that bothered me, it would be the fact that he took so long to eventually get his opponent to the ground. Given the fact that Davis actually won a championship as a NCAA wrestler, along with his four all-American awards, I would expect him to have no problems getting anyone to the ground. While I give Davis a little bit of slack, given the fact that he was fighting a Nogueira, his takedowns will probably need some improvement if he wants to continue climbing the light-heavyweight ladder.

Whether Davis will ever become the UFC light-heavyweight champion is really hard to tell at this point. While Davis has certain similarities to the current UFC light-heavyweight champion, he has already showed a few flaws, while Jon Jones is yet to show any.