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Sean Sherk Bio
Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently fighting for the UFC. He currently holds a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record of thirty-six wins, four losses and one draw. Sherk has fought in both the UFC and Pride FC, and is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. His only four MMA losses are to former UFC champions BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Frankie Edgar and current Undisputed UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
Sherk began fighting MMA in June 1999, where he originally fought at the welterweight weight-class. During his time as a welterweight, Sherk suffered two losses; one to Matt Hughes and one to Georges St. Pierre. In 2006, Sherk decided to drop down to the lightweight class of 155 lb. In his first fight as a lightweight, Sherk defeated Kenny Florian to become the first UFC Lightweight Champion in over four years. After his first successful defense with the title, Sherk was stripped of the title after testing positive for steroids, an accusation he unsuccessfully fought against in a series of hearings. Upon his return in May 2008, Sherk failed to win back the title from then champion, B.J. Penn.
Martial arts background
Sherk was born on August 5, 1973, in St. Francis, Minnesota. Sherk began wrestling at age seven. He continued to wrestle for eleven years, and in that time he wrestled over 400 matches. After finding Greg Nelson's Minnesota Martial Arts Academy in 1994, Sherk began to practice boxing, shoot wrestling, and Muay Thai. In 1999, Sherk defeated Roscoe Ostyn by decision in his first MMA fight.
Mixed martial arts career
Sherk began his mixed martial arts career in 1999, where he went on an eight-fight win streak before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2001. Sherk fought only two fights before leaving the UFC. He eventually came back and fought Matt Hughes for the UFC Welterweight Championship. He lost the match and went on to sign with Pride Fighting Championships (Pride).
UFC (2001–2003)
Sherk made his UFC debut at UFC 30, where he defeated Tiki Ghosn. After going 5–0–1 outside the UFC, he was brought back to fight Jutaro Nakao at UFC 36, a fight which Sherk won via unanimous decision. On September 27, 2002, at UFC 39, Sherk defeated Benji Radach when the fight was stopped due to a cut Radach had received.
Sherk was then chosen to fight Matt Hughes for the UFC Welterweight Championship on April 25, 2003. Sherk lost the fight via unanimous decision after going five five-minute rounds. In a back and forth battle, Sherk won two of the overall five rounds, becoming the first and only fighter to ever fight a full five round fight with then-champion Matt Hughes.
Pride (2004)
Following his loss to Hughes, Sherk fought three more times in 2003, winning all three bouts. In 2004, he signed with Pride and made his debut with the Japanese-based organization at Pride Bushido 2. Sherk defeated Ryuki Ueyama via unanimous decision, in what was his only outing in the company.
According to Sherk's website, the Japanese fans are the ones responsible for giving him the nickname "The Muscle Shark." While he was popular in Japan, Sherk found it difficult to travel and support his family and found he could make a better living fighting as a main event on local shows. He also cited his lack of health insurance for making this decision.
Return to the UFC and Controversial Accusations. (2005–present)
Sherk was invited back to the UFC in 2005 for a fight with Georges St. Pierre. Sherk lost by TKO, but was given another fight in the UFC at UFC 59, Sherk demonstrated that he was able to stand and strike with the more documented striker in Nick Diaz as well as mixing his combination very well with his takedowns, he defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision. During the post-fight interview, Sherk stated his intention to drop down in weight to the lightweight division.
In October 2006, at UFC 64, Sherk won all five rounds using his superior wrestling and ground and pound and defeated Kenny Florian via unanimous decision to win the UFC Lightweight Championship. With this win, Sherk became the first UFC Lightweight Champion since Jens Pulver vacated the title in 2002. Sherk fought the bout with a torn rotator cuff and was forced to rehabilitate afterwards.
In July 2007, Sherk successfully defended his title against Hermes Franca at UFC 73. After the fight, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) announced that Sherk had tested positive for Nandrolone, a banned steroid, in a urine test the day prior to the fight. After testing positive for 12 ng/ml of Nandrolone, Sherk was fined $2,500 and suspended from competing in California for one year. Sherk's suspension was reduced to six months after appealing his allegations on December 4, 2007, making him eligible to fight in early January 2008. Sherk claimed errors were made in lab testing procedures. He claimed that failure of the lab to properly test the vials used in the earlier, positive tests for any remaining steroid content may have resulted in his sample becoming contaminated. However, Quest Diagnostics and the CSAC denied any errors were made. Following the CSAC's decision to uphold the results of the positive steroid test, the UFC officially stripped Sherk of his Lightweight Championship. At UFC 80, B.J. Penn defeated Joe Stevenson to win the vacant title. After the fight, UFC president Dana White announced that Penn's first title defense would be against Sherk, who was reinstated by UFC in April 2008, and has tested clean ever since. Sherk and Penn fought at UFC 84 on May 24, 2008. Sherk lost by TKO after being caught by a flying knee and multiple clean shots to the face. Sherk was unable to continue at the end of the third round. Despite officially surviving the third, he was unable to continue into the fourth round and thus it was declared a TKO stoppage.
After UFC 84
Sherk fought Tyson Griffin at UFC 90: Silva vs Cote, in a fight with title contention implications. In a three-round war, Sherk won by unanimous decision, earning him Fight of the Night. In the first round Sherk was putting the pressure on Griffin from the very beginning scoring take-downs and taking Griffins back. Throughout the second and third rounds Sherk took Griffin down once more and the rest remained an exciting striking battle between the two. Sherk demonstrated very crisp and technical striking that night.
Sherk next fought Frankie Edgar at UFC 98 losing via unanimous decision. Sherk again found himself in trouble with an athletic commission post fight, after he ran from the arena before supplying a post fight urinalysis. He was contacted by commission officer Keith Kizer and told to return to the arena immediately or face his license being revoked. Sherk returned within the hour and provided a urinalysis and tested clean, but was still suspended 45 days for the actions.
Injury plague hits
Sherk was scheduled to face Gleison Tibau at UFC 104, but was forced off the card with an injury. He was replaced by Josh Neer.
Sherk was scheduled to face Rafaello Oliveira on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108. However, due to an injury to Tyson Griffin, Sherk was promoted to the main card to fight Jim Miller. Sherk did not compete at UFC 108, pulling out due to injury. Sherk suffered a cut above his right eye requiring several stitches.
Sherk was expected to face Clay Guida on March 21, 2010 at UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones, but Sherk was forced off the card with yet another injury.
Return to the Octagon
After a 16 month hiatus, Sherk returned on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 and defeated Evan Dunham via split decision in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.
Sherk was planning a fall 2011 return after rehabbing past injuries, but no fights for him came to fruition.
Personal life
Sherk and his wife have two sons, Kyler and Tegan. He currently coaches a team of fighters at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.
Championships and accomplishments
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Lightweight Championship (One time)
- Fight Of The Night (Two times)
Mixed martial arts record
External links
- Official site
- Official UFC Profile
- Official MySpage page
- Professional MMA record for Sean Sherk from Sherdog
MMA Shirts
