(“As soon as I get this pesky bleeding stopped, I’ll return to the cage.”)
Sean Sherk was on MMAJunkie Radio on Monday and the 38-year-old former UFC lightweight champ revealed that he only has a handful of fights left in him.
“I want to fight again. I’m a fighter. At this point in time, do I plan on fighting five or six more times? Probably not, to be honest with you. That’s why I want big fights. I want co-main-event or main-event type fights that are going to cement my place in the UFC Hall of Fame,” Sherk says. “Absolutely, I think at this point in time, I’ve done enough to be a hall of famer, but I’d like a few more fights to make my mark.”
Sherk, who says that nagging injuries have kept him out of the cage for the better part of the past two years says that the game has changed and as a result competing while hurt is something that you can’t get away with anymore.
“I wanted to fight last year but I had the same issues that held me out of the Octagon for 18 months. It’s just injuries. It’s injuries piling up.I fought too many times in the last five or six years with serious injuries. I don’t feel the need at this point to fight injured. When you’re fighting and not 100 percent, it’s not a fun thing. It’s not something fun to go through. It’s not fun going through training camp when you need surgery,” he explains. “The guys are getting younger, and the guys are getting faster, and they’re getting tougher, more explosive. Their coaches are getting better. The sport isn’t what it was five or 10 years ago. It’s 100 percent changed. If I want to stay on top of the heap, I’ve got to stay on top of everything – staying healthy in training, my diet, my conditioning.”
As far as his UFC Hall of Fame aspirations go, “The Muscle Shark,” who is 36-4-1 in 41 MMA bouts, believes he is a strong candidate for a spot alongside Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Royce Gracie, Mark Coleman and Charles “Mask” Lewis.
“I fought for the world title in two different weight classes. I was number one or number two in two different weight classes in the world,” he points out. “I won a world title. I defended a world title. I think I’ve done enough to cement my place in the UFC Hall of Fame. Most guys in the Hall of Fame right now didn’t accomplish what I’ve accomplished. So I feel like I deserve that.”
I think “most“ is a bit of an overstatement, Sean.
Randy won titles in two weight classes. Chuck defended his belt four times and beat a who’s who of light heavyweights in his career. Royce is Royce. Dan Severn won UFC 5, Ultimate Ultimate and a superfight with Ken Shamrock for a strap. Shamrock fought to a draw with Royce and Oleg Taktarov and submitted Bas Rutten and Severn. Coleman won UFC 10, UFC 11 and the 2000 PRIDE grand prix. Hughes is the UFC champ with the second most successful title defenses behind Anderson Silva.
Sherk decisioned Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca — the latter of which should have been changed to a “no contest” after he failed a post-fight drug test.
The only HOF’er he did more than in the Octagon is Mask, who never fought. By that reasoning, there should be a lot of future Hall of Famers waiting in line including Kalib Starnes and Danny Abbadi.
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Hall of Fame? When a fighter tests positive, as Sherk has tested positive for Nandrolone – isn’t that called the Hall of Shame?
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