Does Sherk Deserve the Shot?
By Curtis Clontz on Apr 30, 2008
At UFC 84 we will see a battle of lightweight monsters. In one corner we will see one of the best American Jiu Jitsu practitioners ever in B.J. Penn and in the other we will see one of the best conditioned fighters in the organization. As we get closer and closer to the bout, many are asking does Sean Sherk really deserve to be fighting for the title?
Sean Sherk is a physical specimen in the 155 pound weight division. He is the never get tired and top conditioned athlete that many strive to be like. If the UFC was a body building contest he would not have many competitors. However it is not, and in this game of fighting certain things are illegal.
After his last fight, Sherk tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone Metabolite. Other notable athletes that have also tested positive for Nandrolone are Roger Clemens (not confirmed yet), Sean Merriman, and Kurt Angle. This anabolic steroid naturally appears in the body and it’s one of the most abused steroids taken by athletes and other users. Nandrolone accelerates muscle growth, strength, aggressiveness, and recovery.
Once testing positive for this steroid, Sherk has stayed consistent stating “I worked extremely hard to get to this point in my career and now I have this attached to my name, even though I’m 100 percent innocent,” in an interview with Yahoo.
So there we were… Sherk tested positive and seems to be in the middle of a steroid controversy. He was stripped of his title and served his suspension. In one failed series of tests SHerk went from one of the fan favorite to one of the most hated fighters in the sport.
The main question I keep trying to answer is… Does Sherk deserve to fight for the title next?
On one side of the argument, he completed the requirements of his suspension. He should be the #1 contender assuming that he can fight with the same aggressiveness and constant pressure as before. This is the side that I tend to go with. Whether he was taking steroids or not, he completed the required punishment and it is now time to move on. If he is the same guy, Penn in my opinion is the only guy that can fight with Sherk in that division.
On the other side, many think that he should not be fighting for the title. He tested positive and has never came clean. Not one time has he ever stated that he did it and “manned up” for his actions. The Sherk hate was in full effect when Penn said “Sean Sherk your dead!”, as Sherk stepped in the ring. The boo birds were flying high and let him hear it. He did test positive, and most fans just want an apology.
It is unlikely we will ever truly know for sure whether Sherk was taking steroids or not. It would take him saying he did it for us to have complete confirmation. Sherk has been one of the most exciting fighters in the smaller weight classes of the UFC. According to the Fight Finder he has an insane 31-2-1 record. Not many can say that, and his only 2 losses were against great fighters. One was to a future Hall of Famer and the best 170 pound fighter of all time in Matt Hughes, the other was to the guy that beat Hughes for his title in George St. Pierre.
Sherk and Penn promises to be a great fight. I am not going to make my prediction yet, but the energy that Sherk will bring, and the great all around game of Penn should make this one of the fights of the year. I believe that Sherk should be fighting for the title. It was his to lose, he lost it, and now it is time for him to make his attempt to become the champion yet again.
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It’s interesting that Sherk fell foul to the test in California and that he has constantly stated his innocence. If I remember the details correctly Phil Baroni had the same experience in California? After retesting there were no traces of the drugs he was to have supposedly taken. The situation is certainly not soi cut and dry. I would like to have more official details on the subsequent testing and to see how the results matched up before condemning the guy. He was an all round clean living kind of dude with family and a serous dedication to his training. I find it very difficult to believe that such a person would risk everything for an extra boost.
I have a hard time believing that Sherk didn’t do it for the same reason I have a hard time believing that Hermes Franca didn’t do it going into their fight. It’s not about the fact that this performance was somehow more extraordinary, it’s about the fact that it makes sense given that he is a fighter in the top tier and there’s alot of pressure on him to preform.
I’m not giving him an excuse, I’m simply saying that, given his circumstances, it makes sense that he would use.
That said, I think that Sherk does deserve a title shot, because he hasn’t been retested and he deserves the chance to show us that he is legit without the juice. Time will tell if he can maintain his athleticism without it, or if it’s clear that his athleticism is as fantastic whatever he’s putting in his body (he’s definitely a cardio machine, though).
He deserves the shot and deserves the win. Never before have I seen a steroid test go in two separate ways I this one. Being a college baseball player I see (and am seeing) steroids in full force. I have a genuine hate for all who use steroids as they cheat themselves, their competitors, and their sport. But to see just as many negative as positive tests is annoying and wrong. It sucks for Sherk because he will never shake this.
I don’t think he deserves the shot. While he does have wins over two solid lightweights, his win over Florian came before Florian had the accolades he does now and against Franca he tested positive for steroids.
I’d like to see fighters maintain a solid record of wins and losses against fighters in the division in which they are challenging. In my opinion fighters like Tyson Griffin, Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta should all be well ahead of Sherk in line for a title shot.
Trevor,
C’mon man. Steroids aside, there is not another person in that weight class that deserves the shot more than Sherk. Sherk is 31-2-1, who else in that division can say that?
i think sherk deserves the title shot as well. he always tested clean before and didnt do to shabby. im not a fan of sherks at all, but i belive him for some odd reason when he said that it could have been tainted supplementsand didnt take them knowingly. nonetheless i’m picking b.j. by ko or tko by the 2nd. franca rocked sherk w/ knees a couple of times and b.j. knows how to use knees(just ask din thomas). i cant see were sherk can do anything better than b.j. besides wrestling and b. j. is the best fighter in ma off his back so then whar? b.j. has to much talent for sherk and his days of gassing in a fight is over.
Sherk deserves the title shot for sure. I read tons of things about how false positives can appear in drug tests. Sherk passing the lie detector test is proof enough for me that he did not intentionally take steroids, if at all. I can’t wait for this fight, I’m rooting for Bj, and I would like to see Florian get his shot at the winner of the fight, after his match against huerta of course.