Shane Carwin gets a longer medical suspension than Brock Lesnar after UFC 116

Although UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar took a major beating from challenger and former Interim Champion Shane Carwin during almost the entire first round of their title bout at UFC 116 on July 3, Carwin ended up getting a longer medical suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission based on the results of post-fight physicals. Nine other fighters on the UFC 116 card also got suspended for injuries, leaving only 40 percent of fighters emerging unscathed from their bouts and ready to take on the next challenge as soon as possible.

Lesnar will have to stay out of the gym for one month due to right eyelid and left eyebrow lacerations he suffered when Carwin unleashed hell's fury onto him during one of the most vicious and longest doses of ground-and-pound any mixed martial arts referee has ever allowed to continue. His next challenger (reportedly Cain Velasquez) will have to wait at least until Aug. 18 to take him on based on the ringside physician's ruling of keeping Lesnar out of the octagon for six weeks.

Carwin got the shorter end of the stick three times at UFC 116 -- first, when his mauling efforts did not result in a stoppage, then for the second time when Lesnar suddenly locked him into an arm triangle and submitted him in round two, and last but not least, when he was suspended for two months total including a gym-ban of six weeks. To make matters worse he has to wait longer than Lesnar before he can even get back in the octagon, although Lesnar had much more visible damage on his face.

Surprisingly, the 'American Psycho,' Stephan Bonnar, who ended up fighting almost blindly with both eyes swollen shut from Krzysztof Soszynski's powerful punches, will be able to return to the octagon sooner than his TKO'ed opponent. Bonnar will be able to get back on a fight card in six weeks once his facial lacerations have healed, while Soszynski will have to wait two months and get clearance by a medical doctor for his left thumb. Both fighters will also have to stay out of the gym for four and six weeks respectively.

Sexy Yoshihiro Akiyama did not have any visible injuries that would have resulted in a medical suspension. But the ringside doc might have been worried about any further damage to Akiyama's 'sex-appeal' due to the 'tough fight' he had against Chris Leben. He benched the Japanese MMA star for one month while his opponent with the Kobold-red hair, Leben, only got three weeks. Apparently, the toughness of the fight looked just about right for Leben's standard. Or maybe the red hair covered up any blood and bruises so he looked unscathed.

Regardless, it will give Leben a longer break than he had between his last two fights, which was only two weeks. This time the doc doubled Leben's recovery time with a medical suspension of four weeks while Akiyama will have to stay out the cage for six weeks. Lucky for UFC President Dana White, there is no event scheduled until UFC 117 on Aug. 7. So Leben will be hot and ready to fill in for anyone once again if necessary.

After being defeated via TKO by TUF 10 alumnus Brendan Schaub, Chris Tuscherer will have to stay out of the gym for six weeks and out of the cage for two months mainly due to a laceration on his right cheek. But if he cannot have his left ear cleared by an ENT doctor he will not be able to fight again until the end of this year (Dec.31).

Kurt Pellegrino suffered defeat at the hands of George Sotiropoulos via unanimous decision at UFC 116, which resulted in 15 minutes of physical punishment and a subsequent medical suspension of at least one month up to six weeks. Those six weeks could turn into six months if he does not get his left knee cleared by an orthopedic doctor.

Infamous 'Kimbo-killer' Seth Petruzelli was not able to turn this second golden opportunity to relaunch his UFC career into a stepping stone. Ricardo Romero squashed all hopes for him with a submission via arm bar in round two. Petruzelli now has to nurse his bruised ego along with his right elbow while staying out of the gym for at least six weeks up to two months. Again, those two months could turn into six if he does not get cleared by an orthopedic doctor. Only one thing is certain: His next fight won't be in the UFC.

At least Petruzelli can rejoice in the fact that he did enough damage to Ricardo to keep him out of the gym and octagon for the same amount of time, pending clearance for his left broken lower jaw by an oral facial surgeon.

Last but certainly not least, David Branch luckily did not suffer any further damage from being slammed into the floor by Gerald Harris, although it did render him unconscious and resulted in a KO loss for him. Branch now has to stay out of the gym for at least six weeks and out of the cage for two months.

Related links:

• Click here to watch a UFC 116 highlights video.
• Click here for complete UFC 116 fight results.
• Click here for entire UFC 116 coverage.
• Click here to see more articles on Brock Lesnar.