Three years ago, Sean Sherk was the first lightweight champion for the UFC in over four years. Two years ago, he was stripped of the same title after one defense and testing positive for steroids, which he to this day denies taking.
Shortly after that, he had his chance to reclaim his stripped belt, but fell in the fight to the current kingpin of the division, B.J. Penn.
A year ago, he had just defeated up-and-comer Tyson Griffin in a bout that ranked within the Greatest 100 Fights in the UFC, taking the decision at UFC 90.
Fast forward to the present, and Sean Sherk has had to drop out of his third straight scheduled bout for the UFC due to injuries.
Sherk is as close to a dominant fighter if there ever is one. He only has four career losses, all against top competition (Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, and title-contender Frankie Edgar).
His cardio is second to none, and his training regimen is some of the toughest you'll ever see (look online to see for yourself). He has one of the best wrestling bases in MMA, and his striking has improved with each fight.
So why is Sherk far from maybe ever getting back to the top?
For one thing, over the past year and a half, he has become extremely injury prone. Having opted out of three straight bouts to injuries is frustrating for a fighter, especially when you are looking to get back to championship status.
For Sherk, time is his enemy. At his age (36 years old), his recovery is harder compared to fighters younger than him and also fighters are passing him towards championship gold while he sits on the sidelines waiting to heal.
He has thirty-eight professional fights under his belt, and has been in the game since 1999. He has a body that has been at war consistently for ten years. This all could be catching up to him and, in doing so, is delaying what possibly could be his last run towards another title shot. There is nothing that can help that, especially from all the pain and fights you have put your body through, and Sherk is a perfect example of it all catching up with you.
If you were to watch any of the last three of Sherk's fights (B.J. Penn, Tyson Griffin, and Frankie Edgar), you'd be surprised if you were told he is the epitome of ground-and-pound wrestling. He used wrestling as a base and defense in those fights (not so much the Penn fight, mind you), but he has fallen madly in love with his striking game. What's not to like? He has power in his hands, short compact shots that can pound you, and a solid quickness to boot. Problem is that it hardly works.
B.J. Penn outclassed Sherk in the striking category. That fight alone should tell you that even if it works, not to over use it. The problem with Sherk's striking is that he has absolutely no head movement. He takes unnecessary shots from his opponent, intent on moving in and getting inside. Because of his short frame, he really has no choice, but with all the striking he's been doing, he's been leaving a lot of his wrestling out.
Sherk is a top level wrestler and maybe one of the last true old-school grapplers (Matt Hughes, for example) that can integrate a good striking game with wrestling. Having been unable to find that balance, Sherk has relied too much on his striking and abandoned his best skill that he always seem to have an advantage over his opponent with and that's his wrestling.
As a fan of Sean Sherk, I really hope to get to see him come back to the Octagon and move up the ranks. But, with plaguing injuries, and just the fact that he may not have much left (or lucky to be Randy Couture), it's hard to see Sherk be anything more than relegated to "legend" status, and a stepping stone for future contenders. I hope this is not true, as I believe that Sherk still possesses a top-level fight game that is worth of another shot at the title. Here's to hoping that the "Muscle Shark" gets back to form and comes back ready to go straight to the top.
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