UFC 119 Preview: Sean Sherk vs Evan Dunham
An intriguing lightweight (155lb) match-up set for this Saturday’s UFC 119 mixed martial arts card in Indianapolis will see either a young rising contender add another notch to his growing resume, or a former
champion revive his career as 37-year-old Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk takes on 28-year-old Evan Dunham.
Recent history
Dunham burst onto the scene in February of 2009 at UFC 95, his debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championships with a first round knock out of Per Eklund, proving he had good, aggressive stand up.
He then took on Marcus Aurelio in August of that year, and once again pulled out a victory, albeit by split decision. Aurelio, a seasoned grappler, gave Dunham his sternest test on the mat, but Dunham showed
the world his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prowess in pulling out the victory.
It was his next fight that really put him on the map, as he came in as a heavy underdog against rising star Efrain Escudero. Escudero nearly crushed Dunham in the first round, dominating him with strikes,
but Dunham showed huge heart in out-wrestling him in the second to tie the fight, and then finishing him in the third with a beautiful arm bar that earned him submission of the night honours.
His last fight, against Tyson Griffin, showed that Dunham couldn’t just win, he could dominate. Improving his record to 11-0, he completely dominated and out-grappled Griffin en route to a decision victory
that immediately vaunted his name into the contender's mix.
Sherk on the other hand has had a frustrating road. He won the lightweight title back in 2006, defended it once successfully in 2007, but then was suspended for steroid use. He came back, challenged for the
belt in 2008 and lost, and has only fought twice since then, once picking up a victory over Griffin and once losing to Frankie Edgar.
Since then he’s struggled to stay healthy and hasn’t fought in 16 months. He’s injured himself three times in a row before fights and had to pull out, suggesting perhaps his body, which had gone through 38
professional MMA fights (33-4-1) might not be up to the strain of hard training any more. How he’ll deal with ring rust and a long lay-off will be one of the biggest questions of the night, but it’s worth noting that Sherk has only lost four times - to B.J
Penn, Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre and Edgar, and every single one of those fighters has been or is a UFC champion.
Style
Sherk is known for two things: having terrific wrestling, and occasionally forgetting he has terrific wrestling and choosing to use sub par stand-up instead. That will determine how this fight goes. If he
decides to wrestle Dunham, he stands a good chance of controlling him for a decision. If he tries to strike, he’ll get eaten alive by Dunham’s much longer reach.
Dunham on the other hand has a terrific submission game, possesses good wrestling and very good stand-up as well. He’s a dynamic athlete and a fast riser and will enter the about as roughly a 5/11 favourite,
while Sherk will be around a 9/5 underdog.
Dunham should be able to use his better all around game to beat Sherk, but with Sherk’s long lay-off creating so many unknown quantities, it may be best to avoid betting in this fight.
Tags: