Sport

Penn v Sherk - The Experts' view
by Ben Blackmore, 15 May 2008

Penn v Sherk - The Experts' view

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“UFC 84: ILL WILL” is approaching fast and conjecture is rapidly building over who will walk out of Las Vegas with the UFC lightweight title. BJ Penn or Sean Sherk?

Penn is the champion, the fans’ favourite, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert.

Sherk believes the belt is still his. He never physically lost it, and he is a lean, mean, fighting machine.

So who will win? We let UFC president Dana White and expert Joe Rogan preview the fight.

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WHITE’S VIEW

“This fight is such an exciting fight. First of all there’s a bunch of bad blood between them. They both want to kick each others’ ass.

“BJ’s out there pushing all the buttons – talking all this smack about Sherk. Sean’s pretty fired up for this fight.

“BJ Penn doesn’t look like a tough guy, but this guy is extremely talented. He’s incredibly flexible and one of the best Jiu-Jitsu guys ever.

“BJ’s a f*****g fighter. When he comes out to The Octagon he’s fired up, he is ready to go and he can’t wait to fight.

“BJ Penn will fight you in your own back yard if you think you’re better than him. And if by some crazy chance you beat him, he’ll knock on your door every day to prove he’s better than you.

“But Sean Sherk is a beast. This kid will outwork you any day of the week.”

ROGAN’S VIEW

“This is a huge fight. A huge fight. The dream scenario for the 155-pounders.

“BJ Penn really is The Prodigy. That is the most apt nickname available.

“He uses his legs to do things that other people use their arms for. He can control you, he can get submissions.

“This BJ Penn, an in-shape, hungry BJ Penn is a scary scary dude. A difficult guy for any fighter at 155, but if there’s one guy who can cause him problems it’s Sean Sherk.

“You’re talking about a guy with unbelievable cardio. He broke Hermes Franca with his pace.

“Sean Sherk in the fifth round, looks exactly like Sean Sherk in the first round. That is very very rare.

“Sean Sherk does not like being belittled. He does not like being insulted.

“He doesn’t like the fact that he did not lose his title in the ring, and there’s another guy in there that people are calling the UFC lightweight champion. They’re putting the belt on him, and Sean’s like ‘I’m the champ, I didn’t lose’.”

Who do you think will win? Let us know using the feedback form below.

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Comments

Merv - 24 May 2008 21:59: Im not sure thats the case Ad. Sherk's need to silence the doubters puts extra preasure on him to perform, which is not necessarily a good thing. Statistic show team perfom worse on the road than at home even after aclimitisation, and the main reason consitently appears to be the lack of support. Now irrespective of whether or not sherk took steriod, the fans think he did. They aren't supporting him. This will play a part in the fight. Plus BJ is pound-for-pound better than Sherk. Despite him still not looking like a fighter he's got arguably some of the best MMA BJJ after training under Ralph gracie from the age of 16. His boxing is as good as anyone else in the lightweight division. Plus he was the first non-brazilian to bring home the BJJ world championship title. Im no BJ nuthuger of whatever, i just have to give this one to him. Hes more experianced and a better fighter. BJ all the way.; Report this to a moderator

Ad - 20 May 2008 09:14: Disco Dave, i know what you are saying about Sherks previous fights, they might not have been fight of the night contenders (although i do still enjoy watching his last 2 fights against Kenflo and Hermes Franca) but what he seems to do extremely well is neutralise an opponent and take away their heart. Now BJ has always been quite entertaining in his fights but he has always had a tendancy to gas durung the fight. I really hope this isnt the case as i'd hate for him to lose it because his conditioning was bad (although during the stephenson fight he seemed to be in the best shape i have seen him) So who you got for the other fights? Personally i think Machida will get a decision over Ortiz (Titos past his prime now and hasnt put in a good performance for years now plus i've always thought he was a bit of a one dimentional fighter) Also got Wand to knock Jardine out in the first. And a bit of debate is always good! would be a boring world if everyone agreed all the time!; Report this to a moderator

Disco Dave - 19 May 2008 18:27: Respect Ad, you gotta go with your boy! But to give him the edge based on media coverage and hype as apposed to actual talent, (not that sherk doesnt have any), seems to be a bit speculative. And as for being a top class fight, can you remember the last time sherk was involved in one? Once again not trying to start any contraversy, just like a good debate lol!; Report this to a moderator

Ad - 19 May 2008 09:22: Disco Dave i have been watching MMA since the days they used to show Bushido on Sky sports many many years ago so i'm not a newcomer in the slightest and i wasn't trying to count out BJ at all. I mean theres no doubt the guy has awesome talent and his last performance against Joe Stephenson was just a total mauling of the guy, i just give Sherk the edge in the fight due to the fact he has to silence his doubters and haters. like i said before it should be a top class fight though!!!; Report this to a moderator

Nash - 18 May 2008 20:14: BJ in 4th round via triangle. Sherk will win third round big, it will look like BJ is tired, then BJ will snap on a triangle out of nowhere as Sherk is ground and pounding him; Report this to a moderator

Andy - 17 May 2008 17:00: I see Sherk taking BJ down but making and error and BJ getting his back, the rest is obvious, Rear Naked Choke.; Report this to a moderator

Disco Dave - 16 May 2008 16:29: I take it you's two are relative new comers to mma? I'm not tryin to be a dick btw, its just that your talkin bout this fight like BJs some nobody sherk can just boringly outwork as perr usual, which taking into account BJs talent and resume, is simply not the case.; Report this to a moderator

Darren C - 16 May 2008 14:13: I agree with Ad, Sherk has a helluva lot to prove, and this is a big opportunity for him to redeem himself. He's out to shut BJ up, but he's not just fighting BJ he's fighting everyone that doubted him and turned their backs on him. So his mental state is gonna be pure anger. It will be a good fight.; Report this to a moderator

Disco Dave - 15 May 2008 16:52: If matt hughes struggled take BJ down, then i find it hard to see how sherk is gona be able to take him down, going by the general assumption that hughes's wrestling is superior to that of sherks. But even if sherk can take him down he wont be able to just dry hump his way to victory like he normally does. BJ's BJJ is outrageous at worst, hes so crazy flexible that its near impossible to see him not being able to manipulate one of sherks limbs into submission, or even better just stand back up and pick sherk apart on their feet. No matter where this fight goes, i cant see BJ losing.; Report this to a moderator

Ad - 15 May 2008 15:31: Its got to be Sherk all the way for me....... I reckon BJ will try and set the pace at the start of the fight but theres no way he will outwork Sherk, plus Sherk has a hell of alot to prove in this fight Should be a good fight whoever wins though...; Report this to a moderator

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