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BJ Penn (-215) vs. Sean Sherk (+175)

by Stan Leung
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UFC 84: I'll Will
Saturday May 24, 2008 7:00 PM EST
BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk
UFC Betting Pick: Penn -215

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UFC lightweight title fight: BJ Penn (-215) vs. Sean Sherk (+175)

"Looking at him, he doesn't look like he's ever done steroids in his life," Penn. Sarcasticly states.

“If he did win the belt by cheating, that's ridiculous. But he's the one who has to live with it. Just like bodybuilding. If guys are cheating, maybe there should be two divisions.” Penn

How do you bet this UFC fight? B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn (12-4-1) has been calling out the former UFC lightweight champ as a cheat and that he will beat the steroid abuser with ease. If BJ is in shape he is one of the best pound for pound mixed martial arts fighters in the world. Since BJ has found the proper training and dedication to training properly for fights he is arguably one of the best fighters in the world.

The is one of the biggest UFC grudge fights that hardcore MMA fans have been looking for a while now. Penn needs to back up all his smack talk about Sherk and perform in the UFC octagon but this will be one of Penn’s toughest fights ever. BJ does not have to worry about Sherk’s power or grappling, he has to worry about not losing take down points and Sherk’s stall tactics when he fights. 

BJ has way better grappling skills and on the ground he can dominate Sherk IF he has top position. Striking wise BJ’s striking has vastly improved and that will be the deciding factor in the fight.

He has been asking to fight Sean Sherk for a while and I don’t see why that BJ will not train hard for this fight. He will be fighting Sean “The Muscle Shark" Sherk who at 31-2-1 will pose Penn a lot of problems. The problem with fighting Sherk is that his body type gives fighters problems. He is built like a stump and a T-Rex. His little itty bitty arms will be hard for anyone to arm bar. He has fought great technical jujitsu fighters like Hermes Franca, Kenny Florian, and Nick Diaz and they could not submit him. He also has a think neck and chokes will be hard for BJ to apply. Finally he has short stumpy legs which are very short which will make it hard for Penn to apply knee bars or leg locks.

Sherk is known as one of the most boring fighters in mixed martial arts as his style of fighting is not very exciting. Though it is not exciting it is very effective as he wins most of his fights be decision which means he is does not have the power or grappling ability to finish fights. Sherk’s fighting style is ground and pound and he uses his great wrestling skills to gain top position and his base is among the best in MMA. Once he gains top position he will hold an opponent down score take down points. Sherk does not have striking ability nor the grappling ability to do any damage to Penn; however he will score a lot of points through takedowns.

Sherk beat Hermes Franca at UFC 73 Stacked winning by unanimous decision after five rounds. On July 19, 2007 the California State Athletic Commission announced that Sherk and Franca had both tested positive for banned steroids in post-fight drug tests. After testing positive for Nandrolone, Sherk was fined $2,500 and suspended from fighting until July 6, 2008 but he appealed and Sherk's suspension was reduced to 6 months.

There are many questions concerning Sherk. Lets be honest, he looks like a guy on steroids. If he is drug free how will he body frame be? Will he have that aggressive attacking fight style and will the long lay off affect his fighting performance. His last fight was on July 7, 2007 and will he show rust in the octagon? He has been in courts fighting his suspension and has he had the time to train properly?

Bottom Line: I really think the drug free Sherk is no where near as affective as the one that tested for steroids. He will pose Penn problems as he will attempt to shoot on for take down points. But Sherk has never fought anyone with the skill the Penn poses on the ground. Penn in the best technical fighting in the world and there is no way Sherk can out grapple the BJJ superstar.

Sherk is a one dimensional fighter that will not be able to adapt to Penn fight game. Yes he has the strength and wrestling advantage but he lacks other fundamentals to be able to beat Penn. Sherk is a great fighter but against a determined and focused Penn I don’t see anyone in the world beating Penn at 155.

This fight will be decided by the stand up and Penn will pepper Sherk will shots as he might want to shoot in for a takedown because of his grappling. This fight will go the distance and two years ago that might affect the UFC bettors because of Penn’s lack of conditioning but not in this fight. Penn is focused and will have the stamina to go all five rounds.

Despite much anticipation for this fight, this will be quite a boring affair as Sherk will use his boring fighting style to try to control Penn on the ground. Penn is the smarter, more skill fighter in all aspects and Sherk will not be able to out smart the Prodigy. He is the first American-born winner of the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship (Mundial) in the black belt category and got his black belt in only 3 years. In MMA he has beaten some of the best fighters in the game like Matt Hughes at UFC 46: Supernatural, Takanori Gomi, Jens Pulver, Caol Uno at UFC 41: Onslaught, Duane Ludwig, Matt Serra, Rodrigo Gracie, Din Thomas, Renzo Gracie and Joe Stevenson at UFC 80: Rapid Fire. Penn was also beating Matt Hughes at UFC 63: Hughes vs. Penn but gassed and Hughes ended up getting a TKO. Penn was also beating Georges St Pierre at UFC 58: USA vs. Canada but gassed in that fight. Now that Penn has learned to properly train for fights he seems unstoppable.

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