Man is this going to be a good fight.
BJ Penn is the lightweight champion in the UFC, and he is defending his title against the former lightweight champ, Sean Sherk. It's a fight that's been brewing for nearly a year.
Penn has been widely regarded as one of the top pound for pound fighters in all of mixed martial arts, or MMA, for quite some time. He is a well rounded fighter, with excellent striking skills, a black belt in brazilian jiu-jitsu, and the kind of flexibility one gets by having Gumby somewhere in the family tree. One of his weak spots has always been his conditioning and his cardio. When he first started competing in MMA, he relied on his skill, and natural ability to dominate his opponents. Nowadays, you can't just be competent to excel at, well, pretty much any professional sport. Knowing this, Penn has recommitted himself to improving his cardio, and making himself that much more dangerous. This saturday, we'll see how much he has improved, because he's going up against a man that just does not quit in Sean Sherk.
Five years Penn's elder at 34, Sherk has been in the world of MMA for a long time. Like many in the sport, he has a strong background in wrestling, and combines that with a fanatical work out regimen that allows him to keep an intense pace through out the entire match. This is Sherks first fight since being stripped of the title for testing positive for steroids after his last fight. Although the Nevada State Athletitc Commision reduced his suspension from a year to six months, the UFC still stripped him of the lightweight title. Before that happened, Penn and Sherk were to face each other last October. Penns last fight in January was changed from an interim title bout, to a fight for the lightweight championship, which he won in convincing fashion against Joe Stevenson.
After the fight against Stevenson, Penn called Sherk out, knowing that they would be fighting each other soon, and proclaimed "Sean Sherk, you're dead!" After a mild confrontation in the ring (Sherk was in attendance ringside) the two were separated. There has been much speculation on who will emerge victorious when they finally meet in the Octagon this Saturday. Penn has better ground and submission skills, while Sherk has the strength, and conditioning to where almost anyone out. It's a fight many MMA fans have been wanting to see, and come May 24th we finally get to.
Man this is going to be a good fight.
