Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk will be required to undergo additional drug testing prior to his showdown with reigning 155-pound kingpin, BJ Penn, at UFC 84: “Ill Will” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 24, according to MMAPredictions.com.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today voted in favor of the extra measure because the “Muscle Shark” tested positive for a banned anabolic agent (Nandrolone) in the wake of his successful title defense against Hermes Franca at UFC 73: “Stacked” in July 2007.
He was subsequently stripped of his crown, suspended and fined by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) — a ruling that he bitterly denies and blames on a mix of dietary supplements, shoddy lab work, breaches in the “chain of custody” and other factors.
It was enough to get his suspension reduced from 12 months to six; however, Sherk’s reputation has taken a big hit in the court of public opinion throughout the ordeal.
Sherk was apparently present for the NSAC proceedings via telephone and agreed to submit the extra sample during the week of April 21 — one full month prior to his fight with Penn.
For more details of the proceeding head over to MMAPredictions.com to read the entire entry. To check out the latest UFC 84 card click here.
45 Comments »
Great! Now he has no chance of winning this match!
He has no chance of winning this fight? I grew up with Sean and he has never been into anything that will give him an edge. He’s the real deal and just because alot of you dont like his fighting style doesn’t mean he’s a cheater. He’ll kick Penns ass, just like he has everyone else’s and all the non believers will still think he cheats. even though their dad had to work late again, with his 22year old secretary and he’s a hard worker.
I think its good. Maybe it will shut people up. Let the guy fight and the tests will tell.
ughhhhh not again. i rly wanna see penn vs. sherk
i think they shoild do this with all fighters. before and after tests. no doubts would remain.
I don’t know about doing it for all fighters. It would be good, but the cost and time involved would be fairly steep. I definately think this should happen for anyone fighting for a title tho. Test 1 month before and the night of.
Looks like this fight might not happen after all! I mean its not like he had any evedence in the first place that he didnt use roids. He just bitched and moaned like a baby. At least Franca manned up and said he did it. Sherks’ a f-ing tool.
what?
That would be funny if he tested positive again. Its not like he cleared his name or showed any proof that he didnt do roids in the first place, he just whined and cried like a baby and kissed Dana’s ass. At least Franca manned up and admitted he did it. Sherk is the biggest tool in MMA next to Manny and Karo.
He was on Inside MMA and said he took three different test and they all came back negative and that the tests he took were better than the NSAC but that it seemed like they didn’t care to look at his evidence.
Courts rarely care to see voluntary tests, mainly because the accused will only set up a test in a controlled environment that they know they will pass. Besides the fact that how much after-the-fact did Sherk take his own tests (wait till it cycles through, then test & say “look I’m clean”)? Last time I was in court, my X’s attorney bragged that 2 voluntary drug-tests were passed since the last failed one & the judge just rolled eyes ‘cuz it’s known that if the accused waits until they are clean, then “volunteer” to have a test done after failing a court-ordered test it’s a set-up. It doesn’t matter how many tests you pass, it’s the 1 you fail that counts.
we will see how is body looks and we will be able to tell if he did or not
I’ll bet he comes in doughy and with he-hooters, B-cup or larger.
I still give Sherk the benefit of the doubt. Even if he knowingly took steroids in the first place, I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to do it again, his UFC career is riding on this next fight against Penn. As for drug testing, all fighters should be regularly tested to clear any sort of rumours or cheating, in the case fighters bulk up/train while taking steroids and then ween off/stop in time to have it clear of their system in time for a fight.
How can you not have respect for a man who will test 4 weeks prior to his fight ? All fighters test before and after their fights in boxing and MMA. Sean will undergo a total of 3 tests in all.
My guess is his physique will look the exact same (for the steroid ramblers) and he will go to war for 4 rounds before a TKO victory over Penn. It will be fight of the year runner up to Rampage vs. Griffen.
I think’s it’s completely possible that Sean will over-compensate the physical aspect of his training and under-train the actual fight training part lol.
Pretty much say it all. Sherk has never tested positive before, his levels weren’t even really that high (12ng/dl) say compared to Royce Gracie (50ng/dl). Why didn’t the NSAC make Tim Silvia or Stephen Bonner submit an early test before their next fight. It’s not that hard to have an elevated T to E ratio, hell Tribulus (herb) can do that. He’ll test clean, look the same and then all the arm chair fighters can shut their mouths, since most all of them have never busted their ass in a gym to save their lives.
Even Sherk’s not dumb enough to fail the test twice. He might even get a private test just to make sure. As far as Tim and Steph go, NSAC should have made them submit early tests too. They messed up with them, but they’re getting their act together now. Oh and I love how you know my gym habits. And I love the fact that you think I’m equating drug usage (or excessive supplement usage, which is equivalent) to laziness. Sherk is both a hard worker and a cheater. He won’t cheat this time, but his hard work won’t be enough against BJ.
Please, give me a break. In a way I like this, so that when his test comes back clean, there will be no excuses when he beats Penn.
I hope he fails…and then BJ Penns kicks his A$$ in the parking lot.
this is good news.. but they should show up at different gyms and do random testing a couple times a year.. that would be better
BJ is such an ass, i’d love to see him get his face smashed in…Sherk, however, is boring as hell to watch though
Damn, there’s no love for Sherk :’(
Lay and pray fighters who can’t finish bore me. Go BJ!
Iono im starting to get a feeling that sherk will win, even doh it makes no sense to me at all because Pen is the shiz nitt(not no top 5 in my book, he will be #2 once he wins title). Hope Pen wins soooooooo Gomi vs pen 2
Penn will win regardless if Sherk juices or not. I’ve heard a whole bunch a folks talk about how Penn is gonna get man handled by Sherk..Sherk’s too strong.. for comparisons sake, everyone forgets that he submitted Hughes (when Hughes was at his best)the fist time and had him beat in their second meeting during the first two rounds until he suffered a cracked rib and lost in the third.
Hughes destroyed Sherk in there match. Now I know styles make fights. But Sherks style just doesn’t favor him against BJ. He’s gonna get all crazy and tryin to lay, pray and smother Penn, and BJ will be patiently waiting until Sherk opens up and makes a mistake.
BJ WILL submit the ROID SHARK in May.
Sherk is going to pass the test.
Sherk is going to beat the shit out of Penn.
..mark my words.
I’m a big BJ fan, but I have to admit he hasn’t always come through in the “big ones”. In his 6 biggest fights (IMO), he is 2-3-1.
Pulver I - Loss
Uno II - Draw
Gomi - Win
Hughes I - Win
GSP - Loss
Hughes II - Loss
But what’s crazy is that BJ’s other wins came against the likes of: Din Thomas, Uno, Serra, Ludwig, Renzo, Jens, and Joe Daddy. And his only other loss was against Machida, and they fought at HW!!!
That’s what I like about BJ though, he fights the best, and loves doing it. He’s not in it for the money, fame, and sometimes even titles. He’s just a fighter at heart.
Good chance to clear his name at least ahead of this fight..
Couldnt be bothered to type out exactly..but jist you get
BJ Penn is probably laughing his ass of! I cant wait to hear what BJ says about Sherk in all the UFC 84 pre fight promotional video interviews
Just one question.. He got stripped of his title, he got suspended, they say that it was an illegal substance that gave him an unfair advantage. Then WHY the F does he get a shot to get his belt back? None of those previous fights should count, he should be at the bottom of the list, (and lucky to be there)and have to work his way back up the ladder.
Gomi couldnt beat either of these guys…I dont know why he is ranked as high as he is…maxiums submitted him and you see how he cant beat Clay Guida they have to throw cans at him to win…So what if he has to do extra tests if he isnt on roids then he is fine!…
Say what you want about GOMI, but he has defeated many very tough fighter through out his career that could make an impact in the UFC.
I would put him in the top 5 lifghtweights in the WORLD for sure
I still say that Sherk didn’t take them intentionally. The lengths he goes to to make sure his diet is all natural with no contaminants is unreal. I don’t think he would knowingly screw that up by taking a banned substance.
However, I think all athletes should take monthly tests so they can’t take them during training then ween themselves off it closer to the fight to test negative. Additionally all supplements should be tested beforehand and preapproved for the fighters to take. This would eliminate all “accidental” using.
i really hope sherks levels are similar to what they were last time in all the tests so that it is proved he does just have naturally high figures… the downside is hed probably end up in a messy court battle to clear his name
to say he is overly muscular and must be taking steroids is insane
hes looked that way for the last decade or so and must of been tested before other ufc fights
certain people have freaky genetics
look at matt hughes… if retards are stupid enough to insinuate that just because sherk is incredibly muscular that he takes roids then by the same argument so must matt hughes
its going to be a great fight and sherk will come out pissed off at all he has suffered… ban …lost earnings…title…respect and to cap it all BJ saying hey sean sherk your dead
This is good news. This should go for any fighter that has been suspended for steroids. I actually think that they sould be RANDOMLY tested at any point during their training camp for the fight. I don’t like this pre-notifying him of the exact date the drug test will be.
If you tell me when my drug test will be, I sure as hell will pass it. If you grab me on the spot, well, you got me!
VERY GREAT POINT! Random testing would be a much better way of weeding out the cheaters. As you said, they should be able to be tested at any point during their training camp!
How many pot heads have passed weed tests, when they new about them in advance? Probably 70% of the working population.
BJ is going to tapdance on Sherk’s face.
Whats the big deal? its not his fault, it was called “stacked” after all. he just went a little to far in getting ready!!!!!ha
They should test him right now before he cycles.
Cheaters never win, winners never cheat.
ya.. i like how they gave him the exact date he has to submit his sample so he can fit it in his cycle down schedule. if he was like hermes and just came right out and admitted it, people wouldn’t hate on him as much.
sherk said he would never fight in california again because of this steroid tuff, does this mean he wont compete anywhere someone wants to test him, since there all the same commission pretty much, same guidlines.
BJ took Machida (2 weight classes over) to a decision - he’ll be able to handle sherk no problem
There is nothing Sherk can do to win -
wrestling? no
striking? no.
ju jitsu? hell no.
Given this new news, Sherk might want to quit roiding, like last week. As far as I’m concerned, roids wouldnt matter in a match with BJ. BJ would beat him anyway. Look at there mutual opponents…Hughes and GSP. Thats all you need to know.
You guys who think Sherk is getting the shaft dont get it. You say his elevated levels where not that high. that actually implies more guilt. Read Marc Ratner’s article regarding this. If you dont know your roiding, and it’s accidental, the scores should be very high. It’s when it’s a little bit high, like Sherks, Josh Barnett, Nate Marquadt, etc..that it implies more guilt. Cause it shows you are cycling. Its pretty clear.