MMA News Forums » MMA Forums » General MMA Forum

[rivethead]

SEAN SHERK WANTS TO WELCOME DIEGO TO 155



Sean Sherk is still looking to fight top contenders, and has some very strong ideas about whom he wants to face next.

MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday asked the former UFC lightweight champion about his plans for the future. At the moment, he is taking time off with his family, getting ready to sack it in for the holidays.

At the top of his Christmas list: a bout with Diego Sanchez.

“If he wants to drop to 155, I’d like to be the first guy that fights him,” Sherk said.

Later in the day, at a public question and answer session for the UFC’s pending “Fight for the Troops” show on Wednesday night in Fayetteville, N.C., UFC president Dana White confirmed that the first winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” was dropping to the 155-pound division.

“I think I match up great with him,” Sherk said. “I think his ground game is phenomenal, but so is mine. I know his conditioning is phenomenal. So is mine. His boxing… is okay. But I think it would be a great match-up. You get two guys that are really aggressive fighters who have great conditioning who are going to go and bang it out for fifteen minutes.”

As one of the division’s best ground and pound stylists, Sherk is well aware he may spend the entire fight fending off submissions.

“I’ve seen him at Abu Dhabi (Submission Wrestling Championships), and that’s when it really opened my eyes as to how good he is with his match against Marcelo Garcia; that match was close, real close, for ten minutes, then Diego made a mistake and got caught. But his ground game was phenomenal. So that would definitely pose some problems for me; I’d have to be at the top of my game, and wouldn’t be able to make any mistakes.”

Sherk would also like another crack at Kenny Florian, despite the fact he was victorious in their UFC 64 meeting that crowned him champion.

“Dana’s saying Kenny’s the number one contender, so I would love to get a shot with him, even though I’ve already beat him,” he said. “Whatever. I’d fight him again.”

A close, and maybe surprising, third is Nate Diaz. Sherk says the younger brother of Nick Diaz and winner of the fifth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is hot right now and deserves to face the upper echelon of the division.

“I would really put him as one of the top guys in the weight class right now,” he said.
The goal is still the same. Sherk wants his title back, and will not accept any tune-up fights.

“I want to push myself and challenge myself,” he said. “I’ve got 41 professional fights. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything in this industry a guy could ever dream of accomplishing, and now, at this point in my career, I only want to fight the best guys. That’s all I’m interested in. I’m not here to collect paydays. I just want to test myself and finish my career knowing that I fought the best of the best and beat them.”

source: - SEAN SHERK WANTS TO WELCOME DIEGO TO 155 - MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more

I'm not a big Sanchez fan, but I think he'll expose Sherk's ground game as overrated...still, I'm impressed with Sean calling him out.

rh

[Cromm]

Sherk and Diego would be a good match up as long as Sherk and Diego are interested in a aggressive pace. If either felt pushed I could see it going to the ground. I dont doubt Sherks ability to get the td and stay in top control, but I do doubt his ability(or willingness) to extend for a sub as per the possibility increases for a sweep or reversal. Sherk will stand up and bang as long as he doesnt really feel pressured.

Diego at 155lbs is kinda crazy and I wonder how the cut will effect him. Will he be able to get down to 155 and stay there, or will it require a huge cut at the very end? However Diegos ground game is really good slick submissions, and decent stand up. But in terms of wrestling and control I would have to lean towards Sherk.

[Dat Dude]

It would be a fight I'm very interested in seeing. It poses some questions to be answered though.

1. Is Sherks ground game overrated?
2. Is Sherk really committed to fighting a more fan friendly style like he stated after the Tyson Griffin fight?
3. How will Diego react to the drop in weight?
4. Is Diego overrated?

I'm not a Diego hater, but I've never really been sold on him being a great fighter. I think he's a really good fighter but not a great fighter. Although I think Diego has a good chance in this fight I'd have to lean toward Sherk.

[tucker50]

Is it just me or does it sound like Sherk is trying to call someone out who has recently had alot of trouble with wrestlers? Maybe he thinks he just beat a good wrestler in Griffin so he should go for a different kind of fighter or maybe he is just looking for an easier fight against a big name. Either way my money is on Sanchez.

[Dat Dude]

Originally Posted by tucker50

Is it just me or does it sound like Sherk is trying to call someone out who has recently had alot of trouble with wrestlers? Maybe he thinks he just beat a good wrestler in Griffin so he should go for a different kind of fighter or maybe he is just looking for an easier fight against a big name. Either way my money is on Sanchez.

Well, Sherk is in a very difficult position right now. While I think he is better than the majority of guys at 155, he'll never beat BJ and I don't see him beating Kenny in a rematch either. He's in a position similar to Franklin with Silva, except Sherk has already been at 170 and there is even more talent in the division now than when he left. At this point he's kinda forced to call out the big names and top contenders at 155. Not trying to be rude but you said Diego is an "easier fight", who do you think he should fight then, Huerta, Guida, Diaz? I just don't see him losing to anyone outside of BJ and Kenny.

[Esox Express]

I don't think Sherk's ground game is overrated necessarily, but I do believe that his stand up is underrated, and I think he wants to prove that.

[Dat Dude]

Well, I don't think Sherk's ground game is overrated either, but that usually comes up when people talk about him.

[NAL987]

Originally Posted by Esox Express

I don't think Sherk's ground game is overrated necessarily, but I do believe that his stand up is underrated, and I think he wants to prove that.

Agreed. Especially since he just came off that crazy fight with Tyson and before that, the Penn fight people didnt really see his standup and said he was picked apart which IMO yes he was losing but I dont think he was getting man-handled and he was holding his own. And Diego is actually in the same situation as Sherk with his standup and wrestling i think, the Fioravonti fight really showed that his standup is improving.. I really wanted to see him fight Alves though, i think he wouldve put up a better fight than Kos did, even though it was very short notice.

[Badluck33]

I'm down for watching this for everyones listed reasons.

WAR the winner of Sherk/Sanchez vs the Winner of PENN/KENFLO!!!!

[rivethead]

Originally Posted by Cromm

I dont doubt Sherks ability to get the td and stay in top control, but I do doubt his ability(or willingness) to extend for a sub as per the possibility increases for a sweep or reversal. Sherk will stand up and bang as long as he doesnt really feel pressured.

I absolutely doubt Sherk's ability to stay in top control. He hasn't faced anyone with the ADCC credentials of Sanchez--and yes, I'm including GSP in that, as 2005 GSP wasn't the grappler that he is today. Sherk has been effective against average grapplers who are natural LW's, and Diego occupies that wierd space in between classes that Sherk, GSP and Silva do...they're big for their weight class and could be effective a class above.

So, yes, I'm saying Sherk's ground game is very overrated. He's strong, he's effective at his takedowns and he transitions well, but he's got no submission game at all to speak of and only is effective in defending against submissions because he is so conservative once he's established a dominant position.

If he's able to take Diego down and keep top control the whole fight, I'll give him more credit, but I still think Sanchez will expose him.

Originally Posted by Cromm

Diego at 155lbs is kinda crazy and I wonder how the cut will effect him. Will he be able to get down to 155 and stay there, or will it require a huge cut at the very end? However Diegos ground game is really good slick submissions, and decent stand up. But in terms of wrestling and control I would have to lean towards Sherk.

I think Sherk's best bet is to fight him right away and hope that Sanchez isn't comfortable with the cut. Sherk represents a difficult tune up fight for someone dropping down for the first time, but once Diego becomes comfortable, I think he's more than Sherk can handle.

rh