Sean Sherk vs Evan Dunham UFC 119 recap
Former UFC lightweight champion Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk made his comeback on Saturday by defeating rising contender Evan Dunham in a highly controversial split decision victory on
the main card of UFC 119 in Indianapolis.
Sherk was looking to save a mixed martial arts career that had been derailed due to injury. Sherk had been forced to pull out of his last three fights after he suffered injuries while
training for each bout.
Dunham, arrived at UFC 119 looking to move his way up the UFC ladder. Dunham entered the fight with an overall MMA record of 11-0. A victory over a former UFC champion would surely be
enough to move Dunham within a fight or two of fighting for a title himself.
Sherk came in and looked for the takedown right off the bat. Sherk slammed Dunham to the ground, but he left his neck exposed in the process and Dunham secured a guillotine choke. Dunham
appeared to have Sherk in some trouble, but he was eventually able to get free from the choke.
Sherk landed some punches on the ground before Dunham regained his feet. Sherk took Dunham to the ground once again, but this time he protected himself much better, tucking his chin to
his chest to avoid a possible choke. Dunham got to his feet and was able to secure another guillotine on the former champ and once again Sherk was able to slip out.
Control of the round reverted to Sherk when he landed a big elbow to the head of Dunham and opened up a nasty cut on Dunham’s eyebrow. Blood was pouring freely and the doctor had to be
brought in to take a look at the cut. The doctor gave Dunham the go ahead and he waded back into the battle.
Between rounds the cut was shown on the monitors in the arena and each time an audible groan was heard from the crowd.
Sherk looked to be focusing on his wrestling again in round two as he went in for another takedown and was caught once again in a guillotine by Dunham. Sherk was able to slip out again.
Dunham got back to his feet and pursued Sherk for the remainder of the round, throwing punches and kicks and aggressively cutting off the octagon.
Between rounds two and three Dunham’s corner could be heard imploring their fighter to be more aggressive with throwing his hands and kicks. Dunham must have been listening because he
delivered a powerful head kick early in the final round that hurt Sherk. Sherk was able to recover and pushed Dunham against the cage.
Sherk seemed to take a more defensive approach in this round, it appeared that he was confident that he had the fight won and did not want to make a mistake that could cost him the victory.
Dunham did seem to share the same feelings as Sherk and he aggressively went after the former champ.
As the fight neared its conclusion Dunham was clearly in control and pushing the action. Dunham throws his hands until the bell rings and it looked like the fight would go Dunham’s way.
When the scorecards were announced, revealing a split decision with the winner being Sherk, the crowd clearly disagreed and showered Sherk with their verbal disapproval to the point that
UFC commentator Joe Rogan had to ask them to applaud for the victorious Sherk.
In the end, Sherk secured the victory and he will most likely land himself some high profile fights, but Dunham did nothing to hurt his chances of ascending through the UFC ranks. If anything
Dunham picked up a number of new fans after his impressive fight against Sherk.
The fight moves Sherk’s overall MMA record to 33-5-1 while Dunham falls to 11-1.
Sherk and Dunham both took home an additional $70,000 as they were awarded the “Fight of the Night” bonus.
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