UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk will go before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) on October 31 to plead his innocence to charges of steroid use, according to FightNetwork.com.
Sherk tested positive for an anabolic steroid agent known as “nandrolone” after his successful unanimous decision title defense against Hermes Franca at UFC 73: “Stacked” on July 7.
He claims that there is a mistake — even though both samples that he provided were tainted — and has hired a high-powered attorney, Howard Jacobs, to clear his name.
Here’s a snip:
“Sherk’s attorney … confirmed his legal team is investigating the lab documentation pertaining to urine specimens taken from his client. Jacobs also said Sherk’s supplements were being tested.”
The 155-pound champion and Octagon veteran has already been fined $2,500. Sherk also faces a one-year suspension and will be stripped of his title if the ruling is upheld.
It’s unfortunate that the hearing will take place on Halloween. That’s because prior to this situation Sherk was penciled in to fight BJ Penn at UFC 78 in Newark, N.J., on November 17.
With just two weeks between the hearing and the event, it’s safe to say that Sherk will not be competing in the Garden State. Penn, on the other hand, could still face Joe Stevenson — a match up that will likely happen to determine a new champion if the title is vacated.
However, Stevenson is recovering from a broken nose he suffered in his UFC 74 win over Kurt Pellegrino and is on medical suspension.
It just seems like this entire situation right now is an utter mess. And only time will determine how it all unfolds.
48 Comments »
mannnnnnnn. We need some better fights on this card. Stevenson isnt gonna be able to fight. Im suppose to go to this one. Lets go Dana. Put the pitbull on this card!
Why is this taking so long.. I taught it was going to be in the beginning of October, not the end..that 4 months after the fact to appeal his roided urine samples..it sucks for the fans that want to some action.
i dont know about you guys, but i am so sick of sherk being the champ. this guy is killing the lw division. first with his injury, now with the suspension. we are always stuck waiting for this guy to defend his title. he is not an exciting fighter either. get him out of the ufc!
yeah, sherk is a snorefest to watch ~ do we really need a lw champ that we have to wait 11 months between LNP title defenses? get this bum out of there and get someone exciting to watch in there e.g.- BJ, Guida, daddy, Fisher, hell ~ even kenflo or huerta or guillard when he gets off the rock! lol
[quote comment=”139563″]i dont know about you guys, but i am so sick of sherk being the champ. this guy is killing the lw division. first with his injury, now with the suspension. we are always stuck waiting for this guy to defend his title. he is not an exciting fighter either. get him out of the ufc![/quote]
I hate to say it but you may b right. Now he’s still managing to hold the LW division hostage. If stevenson cant fight and Din thomas wins, I would like to c him fight BJ.
Didnt BJ fight Din years ago n finished him wit a nasty knee?
The thing is even if his over the counter supplements cause the reading he is still going to be suspended and fined, the CASC or any othe rcommission could careless it is still a illegal substance and he failed.
My guess is the supplements along with his training elevated his levels a bit.
[quote comment=”139565″]yeah, sherk is a snorefest to watch ~ do we really need a lw champ that we have to wait 11 months between LNP title defenses? get this bum out of there and get someone exciting to watch in there e.g.- BJ, Guida, daddy, Fisher, hell ~ even kenflo or huerta or guillard when he gets off the rock! lol[/quote]
If he is suspended, they will strip him of the title, that is a no brainer!
Sherk mauls just about all of those guys easily, the only two who could even come close are stevenson and BJ and Stevenson still loses a decision.
sonds like evryone is in the same mind - sherk is boring to watch - get him out !
sounds*
I really like Sherk. I don’t necessarily know why, lol. He needs to improve his ground and pound to get more KO’s or TKO’s. No doubt he can take a shot, and has superior wrestling skills, but no one wants to see a guy lay on top of another guy, except maybe someone from the gay community, but certainly not myself. We want to see action! Whether of not he gets stripped of the title, I’m looking forward to seeing Stevenson vs Penn. I’m a big Stevenson fan and hope he wins!
Possible reasons for a false test with Nandrolone (from Wikipedia).
“Studies by the University of Aberdeen showing that the metabolite product can also show up in urine in quantities above the upper limit from a combination of high-protein diets utilising the legal nutritional supplement creatine and hard cardiovascular exercise.
Heavy consumption of the essential amino acid lysine has also shown false positives in some and was cited by American Shotputter C.J. Hunter as the reason for his positive test.”
A high protein diet with creatine and high cardio just may be what resulted in his false test. I said it from the start that I think he’s innocent on this one.
LOL, ‘Spooky appeal date’, funny.
I’ve written on alot of blogs in favor of Sean Sherk, I liked what I saw in him during his pride years as the Muscle Shark, his perfomances were quite dominating. But against the likes of Georges St. Pierre he got owned hard. Yippy he moved down in weight and managed to dominate because he’s a freak of nature with his “naturally” strong stature. His strength and ability to hold a guy down for five rounds is the only thing he has going for him. If it turns out that his strength, which is his meal ticket, IS the result of juicing I would really like to see this dude get the boot.
I don’t mind seeing a well fought battle go to the judges’ score cards, but CRANKY if you can do little more than sleep on top of a guy for five rounds and ‘dominate’ by out wrestling a mixed martial artist then you really aren’t worth defending and speaking out for by the fans who all we want to see is a great contest in which two fighters go out there and lay it all on the line.
Sherk invented the lay and pray.
I agree with what others have posted he is constantly holding the LW division hostage.
Sherk is pretty much a wrestler and in wrestling the goal is to get in the best position possible and pin him. So that is theory in which Sherk has imbedded deep in his fighting style. Its not really his fault. He is what he is. On that note, I agree that wrestling without some sort of submission or striking discipline can be quite boring.
Y is it that the Light-weight Division seems to always be plagued with problems???
Pretty much everyone here is on the same page as me.
Sherk is boring. NO one wants to see 25 minutes of lay n pray
He overtrains and injures himself and has to pull out of fights WAY too often.
The LW division has way too many talented, exciting fighters to only have 1 title fight per year.
If you fail a drug test, you fail the drug test. Its not like the test came up positive for Opium, and he is trying to prove that he bought and ate a poppy seed bagle from Dunkin Donuts the day before the fight.
sherk, if you gave both urine samples in the same day and one sample is tainted and the other is clean or if both samples doesn’t contain the same amount of nandrolone like one sample contained 2-5 times more nandrolone than the other then there’s a chance of suspicion that somebody may have spiked it. if both have the same nanograms of nandrolone then there’s a bigger chance the you were taking steroids on purpose, if not then ask your trainer or nutritionist who gave you supplements which may contained steroids. well good luck sherk.
[quote comment=”139677″]Pretty much everyone here is on the same page as me.
Sherk is boring. NO one wants to see 25 minutes of lay n pray
He overtrains and injures himself and has to pull out of fights WAY too often.
The LW division has way too many talented, exciting fighters to only have 1 title fight per year.
If you fail a drug test, you fail the drug test. Its not like the test came up positive for Opium, and he is trying to prove that he bought and ate a poppy seed bagle from Dunkin Donuts the day before the fight.[/quote]
Yeah, Opium like on Seinfeld. Maybe next time he’ll use the urine of an old lady and they’ll say hes metapousal.
[quote comment=”139677″]
If you fail a drug test, you fail the drug test. Its not like the test came up positive for Opium, and he is trying to prove that he bought and ate a poppy seed bagle from Dunkin Donuts the day before the fight.[/quote]
Good Point Violent. and on that I will add… HE’S GUILTY!!!
[quote comment=”139677″]He overtrains and injures himself and has to pull out of fights WAY too often.
[/quote]
How many times has this happened?
[quote comment=”139683″]sherk, if you gave both urine samples in the same day and one sample is tainted and the other is clean or if both samples doesn’t contain the same amount of nandrolone like one sample contained 2-5 times more nandrolone than the other then there’s a chance of suspicion that somebody may have spiked it. if both have the same nanograms of nandrolone then there’s a bigger chance the you were taking steroids on purpose, if not then ask your trainer or nutritionist who gave you supplements which may contained steroids. well good luck sherk.[/quote]
Even if his trainer gave him “tainted” supplements he will still be guilty. It is not the job of the California State Athletic Commission to police which supplements Sherk takes or doesn’t take. If that is his only hope then he is dead in the water. He would have a better chance of going after the lab, but with a double positive result he is fighting (never thought I would say fighting and Sherk in the same post)an uphill battle.
Maybe I am way off here but unless Sean Sherk is eating Doritos on the couch each night since his July 7th win, isn’t he still training MANIA ? The hearing is slated for October 31st. If everything is cleared up and he is not suspended, wouldn’t he still fight BJ Penn on November 17th in Jersey ?
I am quite certain that Sean Sherk is still training as if the fight is on, and of course BJ Penn is training because he is DEFINITLY fighting one way or another. So whats with the following quote from the above headline :
“With just two weeks between the hearing and the event, it’s safe to say that Sherk will not be competing in the Garden State”
He is the champion and until suspended officially, don’t you think he is training as if he is fighting on November 17th MANIA ?
In addition, I assume Joe Stevenson will begin his training sometime next week. He has to assume that if Sherk is suspended on October 31st, that Dana White will call him that same day and day be ready to fight on November 17th. The only thing that Joe Stevenson has to overcome, is the fact he must get doctor’s clearance to fight that night. This I am sure should be relatively easy since in sports, all athletes an find a DOC that will give them a clean bill of health.
IT IS FOR THE TITLE IM SURE SOME DOC WILL GET PAID OFF
Kevin:
I don’t think the issue is either man training, but if Sherk is suspended then there has to be a replacement brought in to fight for the title. It is not unheard of for a fighter to drop out of a fight and a replacement fighter steps in, but we are talking about a world title fight. There is alot on the line. If I was Penn I would never agree to a title fight with an opponent that I have trained a whole 2 weeks for.
Who has Joe Stevenson beaten? Why does he move in for a title shot so quickly? Joe does not impress me.
Trigsley I understand you perfectly , what I am saying is that I can guarantee Joe Stevenson will be training throughout waiting for the phone call from Dana asking him to fight on November 17th in Jersey. My point is that nothing will be affected or at least it should not be. We all know the situation.
3 guys should be preparing to fight, in the end only two will. The title will and should be up for grabs on November 17th. I dont think Im missing anything, MANIA ?
I understand your point. I just feel asking Penn to train for both is unreasonable. Stevenson and Sherk are different style wise, it is alot to ask of someone…….even a Prodigy.
If Sherk is actually innocent or guilty, it doesn’t matter. I can guarantee you that Sherk’s suspension will not get appealed. The best he can hope for is shorter suspension time. Regardless, his belt will be stripped.
This isn’t the Supreme Court, this is the CSAC who are looking at the case. They tested him and suspended him. For the CSAC to reverse the decision means admitting they were wrong, which I doubt they would want to admit that. The other consequence they would have if they reversed it would be that every fighter would try to appeal these cases all the time and I”m sure the commission would not want to deal with this all the time.
[quote post=”3205″]Heavy consumption of the essential amino acid lysine has also shown false positives in some and was cited by American Shotputter C.J. Hunter as the reason for his positive test.”[/quote]
CJ Hunter was on the full Balco program, just like his now ex-wife Marion Jones and her current husband and permanently banned Tim Montgomery. My point is that the amino acid defense, the I-thought-it-was-flaxseed oil-and-arthritis balm defense, and any other bull poopoo excuse he wants to give for a positive test are just that: bull poopoo.
Everyone talks about how weak and boring Sherk is but nobody’s beating him so he must be pretty good ever think of that haters?
I’m glad Dana believes him because I don’t. We will see Penn/Stevenson at UFC 78. I hope they add another big fight to that card
[quote post=”3205″]sonds like evryone is in the same mind - sherk is boring to watch - get him out ! [/quote]
Agreed. I’m sick of these stupid roid using wrestlers taking up PPV time with long boring 5 rounds of holding their opponents down on the ground and getting the win.
Get rid of him
I plan on going to the UFC event in New Jersey. They better not make it suck!
[quote comment=”139828″]Everyone talks about how weak and boring Sherk is but nobody’s beating him so he must be pretty good ever think of that haters?[/quote]
Maybe he would be easier to beat if he wasn’t cheating. Isn’t that the point here?
Ehhhh both guys like to bring the fight to the ground (Sherk/Stevenson) so BJ should simply be ready to fight. After all all he did was beat Jens Pulver and now he’s getting an immediate title shot. BJ should be happy and be prepared to fight on November 17th against either of the two.
[quote comment=”139882″][quote comment=”139828″]Everyone talks about how weak and boring Sherk is but nobody’s beating him so he must be pretty good ever think of that haters?[/quote]
Maybe he would be easier to beat if he wasn’t cheating. Isn’t that the point here?[/quote]
Exactly .
Amd GSP beat the living crap out of sherk. AND YES HE IS VERY VERY BORING TO WATCH FIGHT. hes a wrestler all they do is take you down and do nothing.. Hes 5 foot nothing and His arms are two inches long . He cant punch anyone. HES ONE OF THE BORING GUYS IN THE UFC.
I’ll wait till the hearing to pass judgement, You guys pray he’s guilty cuz your guys can’t beat em
[quote comment=”139776″]Who has Joe Stevenson beaten? Why does he move in for a title shot so quickly? Joe does not impress me.[/quote]
I’m trying to figure that out myself.
looks like I’m fighting an uphill battle with you guys…you heard it here.. Sherk innocent.
just the fact that the hearing was pushed back is evidence enough that he’s guilty.
Randy Couture makes up for all the fighters giving the sport a bad name. HE IS THE MAN!
man i was really looking forward to seeing this one
for all you guys saying that all sherk does is hold people down and “lay and pray,” have any of you seen his fight against kenny florian… if you havnt you missed some of the most brutal elbows dropped in the ufc. Florian looked like he got hit with an ax a couple of times.
i mean did you see how he pinned pulver’s arm with his legs? dat was sick!
If you have a broken nose better heal quick, because a chance at a belt comes once in a great while, either way BJ would break Joe’s nose again anyways, BJ’s the real deal every fight hes in he always does the most damage even the ones he lost to like George St. Pierre where left dudes face all bloody.
[quote comment=”152996″]for all you guys saying that all sherk does is hold people down and “lay and pray,” have any of you seen his fight against kenny florian… if you havnt you missed some of the most brutal elbows dropped in the ufc. Florian looked like he got hit with an ax a couple of times.[/quote]
Sherk is good but the ground and pound for 3 rounds straight is boring no one wants to see that people like stand up more and see people get down not some little Idiot hold you down kill clock time and hit you once out of every 5 shots from the ground, I dont know if you like that but I dont the only time I like the ground and pound is if dude gets rocked then drops to the floor then ground and pound.
GSP mopped the floor with sherk . Sherk has no appeal . His fights are boring and all he does is roll around the floor with guys . Maybe that’s good if you’re gay but i’m not.
Sherk lost his belt and B.J Penn and Stevenson will fight for the championship. I just hope sherk stays home and goes back to selling furniture.