Wow! He's really improved his game! I used to think he was a boring fighter, not that I don't respect doing what you've got to do to win (smothering someone on the ground), but he's really turned it around! In fact, I thought the Griffin/Sherk fight was the most exciting of the night! Never thought I'd say that about Sherk. We did see him try to stand with BJ Penn and we all know where that got him. In fact, I thought he should have tried to get BJ to the ground a little more than he did, but his stand-up really worked well this time around. :good
I don't understand why people think he was ever boring. His takedowns and aggressive ground and pound have always entertained me. I was so excited to see his style on the ground vs Penn and it never happened. As for his stand up, apart from his head movement and stance he's a pretty good boxer. That is, he uses good technique and throws great combos with plenty of snap. His problem against Penn wasn't that he wasn't good on his feet, it's that Penn was at least as good and had just enough reach advantage to keep Sherk coming up just short. Once Penn got a certain amount of aptitude with his jab that whole fight became a matter of geometry, and Sherk should have known this after about the first three minutes and tried harder to get to the ground. I admit, I haven't seem much of Sherk's work at 170 (apart from the GSP beatdown); which of his fights were lay and pray that got him this rep for being boring?
Sherks had good hands for years. Check out some of his old training footage and watch him work the pad's etc. I've never found him to be a boring fighter either because he's so relentless. People wondered why he stood up with Penn but i always knew he would box with Penn. He boxed with Penn because like me he thought that he was good enough to beat him this way. I actually thought he would beat Penn with his boxing if the fight went past 3 rounds. Sherk is one of the best boxers in MMA.
I didn't see the Florian fight but the Franca fight I found entertaining. Franca was supposed to be some BBJ badass but Sherk threw him around and was pounding on him the whole fight. I also heard that he took Florian apart in similar fashion. Is that not true?
It's not true. He decisively and clearly beat Florian, but he never really had him hurt at any point. He was definitely active enough that it wasn't a BORING fight, and Florian never had a chance of winning, but it was a borderline lay and pray affair with tons of blood.
Sherk is a technically sound boxer, even if his height and reach limit his effectiveness, especially against taller fighters.
Yea, those that came from boxing and Muay Thai. Sherks always been a good boxer, he outboxed Nick Diaz at 170.
Nick Diaz isnt a good boxer. As far as Sherk, he does have good hands for MMA and hes got good low kicks. But his boxing is average at best. He doesnt move his head, is very stiff in the upper body, leaves himself vulnerable for counters and cant make simple adjustments throughout his fights ie. Penn flicked out his jab for 15 minutes and Sherk had no idea how to defend against such a simple attack.
I've always thought Sherk to be one of the upper tier fighters in mma. I picked him over Tyson Griffin with no hesitation, and I believe Tyson is a very good fighter.
