“I lost to Matt Hughes (in September 2006) and (was) hanging out and still partying in the bar four or five days a week. (On) my 28th birthday I’m just lying down in bed and I just I wake up and (think) ‘what am I doing, man? Why am I doing this greatest sport in the world? You’re still blowing up. You’re still at the forefront, you still got a chance.’ I just realized why (I) fight. I figured it out. Before it was just like, ‘oh don’t put pressure on me.’ And then I started to enjoy it. I want people behind me. I want people saying he’s the best. I just started understanding what this thing’s all about. It’s about fighting, man. That’s all it’s about.”
– UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn on the epiphany that turned his career around
“People think I’m guilty right out of the gate. There’s always (been) some accusations that I was taking steroids even before the Nandrolone thing happened. I know I didn’t take it, and people that are loyal to me, the people I train with, my sponsors, my loyal fans, they know I didn’t take anything and that’s really all that matters to me. Everybody else is just a fair-weather fan. They love you when you’re on top, and they want to down you when you’re not. I’ve developed some really thick skin since I’ve been fighting professionally and I know that if you’re in the public eye, not everyone’s going to like you. It’s not the end of the world. Life goes on.”
– Former lightweight champion Sean Sherk on the turn if fan reaction
It’s time to just do this thing already, right? UFC 84: “Ill Will” from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24 is still 72 hours away. Fast forward, please. Thanks to MMARated.com for the great interviews … as usual.
53 Comments »
Reading Sherk’s quote makes me question if this guy is a good champ for the UFC. I just think Penn will be better for the sport of MMA and I think he deserves it more the Sherk. All I know I will be watching that fight and backing BJ 100% so he can pimp the UFC and true MMA skills moving forward.
WAR PENN!!
I’m still waiting for the evidence he says he’s shown saying he’s innocent. A couple tests he took on his own prove that a company HE paid, passed him. That proves nothing!
What are the odds of the steroid test being failed by one of the only fighters out there that looks like hes on steroids?!?!?!?!!!! It could have been anybody! ANYBODY! Someone tiny or skinny like Florian or Anderson Silva instead it hapens to pretty much the only guy that looks like hes on roids, a Brock Lesner trapped in a Leanard Garcia body if you will . . . What are the odds . . .
Tim Slyvia, Stephan Bonner, Royce Gracie… skinny guys can be on steroids.
This is true . . . Me lose, you win.
lol..but I understand what you’re sayin’ it’s tough goin’ nowadays for anyone to be a Sherk fan… and mostly likely tougher after UFC 84
I’ll always be a Sherk fan because I respect his fanatical work ethic and his commitment to reach the highest level of physical performance through natural means. I respect him a lot more than a pot smoking, pot bellied, cardio layabout like Penn.
Brock Lesnar did roids too!
proof?
yeah i thought so, you don’t have any.
No way BJ Penn looses this fight. A few weeks back I wagered $400 on Bj and $200 on Machida. Friday I will make the rest of my picks.
Anyone who wants my picks, you can e-mail me and I will make them available for $29.95! lMFAO!
BJ via pocket full-a-shells!!
Can’t wait!
Glad this fight is finally just around the corner!
I respect both fighters.
BJ is pound for pound one of the greatest fighters in any weight class.
I don’t believe Sherk took steroids.
What a fight is all I can say.
I for one, cannot wait for Saturday night!
I know its old now but for all those who don’t believe he took roids…
He tested over because he fu*ked up his cycle, not because of some freak test or naturally high levels.
I would wager that a number of the fighters dabble. As above it doesn’t matter what the guys body is like, steroids are more often than not taken to speed up muscle recovery to train longer, not to look buff.
I hate stories that start with “a friend of mine” but this is true…
A friend of mine owned a gym a while back and used to knock out steroids to a number of high profile athletes who you wouldn’t imagine in a million years would be on them.
The tests are easy to beat, Sherk got lazy or just made a mistake.
“the test are easy to beat”
Do the fighters get piss or blood test? I would imagine a piss would be easy to pass. I used to get piss tested once a week and still smoked weed. It would take about 2 days for me to clean my system naturally and I was a dumb s#it high school kid. Imagine what a professinal athelete with a team of doctors can do.
As far as i am aware they are piss tested but even if it is blood its all a case of timing.
Your right, crackheads can pass tests enforced on them by the courts if they can then multi million $ sports stars can.
It really doesn’t matter if Sheark took steriods or not, Roids are not going to give you MMA skills right? Roids are not going to train for you right? So what does it matter anyway? Bas said it best, that Roids might make you stronger but kills your cardio. And we all know Sherk’s cardio.
“It really doesn’t matter if Sherk took steriods”
That is one of the most ridiculous comments I’ve heard. That’s like saying having weight classes doesn’t matter. It is not permitted and gives an unfair advantage. Period.
But your quote is partially right. It really doesn’t matter, let Sherk do all the steriods he likes and BJ will still destroy him!
JV
you are wrong on so many levels…
1. Roids make you recover more quickly so you can train harder the next day. So roids don’t train for you, but they make it easier for you to train.
2. Bas is wrong. check this out http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-7-27/44314.html (2006 tour de france winner stripped of title for steroids). If cyclists are getting popped for roids, don’t you think that steroids don’t harm cardio?
I believe that Sherk may have not knowingly taken roids, but I think he probably did have them in his system…
Oh man, it’s gonna be intense!
Can’t see Sherk winning this fight. BJ has too much for him, but it should be a great fight!
Is thick skin a side effect of steroids? j/k
Its not about who is a good champ, or who is better for the sport of MMA, or who is more deserving. What matters is winning, whoever wins the fight between Sherk and Penn is the fighter that deserve’s it…….
Couldnt agree more
Regardless if he took steroids or not, I’m sick of all this trash talking. As if i wasn’t looking forward to this card enough. After watching the damn countdown, I’m in the procedure of building a damn time machine. o.0 1,000 ways to die tonight! Kick ass Machida!
BJ is on a different level right now. Too bad. I like Sherk and want him to win but after watching BJs fights, this guy is deadly.
BJ will come in slow and mythadical maul sherk like he did Joe and Sherk will be left to the vultures to clean. Sherk has already lost the mental game.
2 MORE DAYS BITTTTCHHES!! ooooooOOOOOooOO shET!! Penn 1st Rnd KO. Nighty Night Shrek!
Odds are low, but I’d like to see Sherk pull out a win. I can’t deny BJ’s greatness (or potential thereof), but I just don’t like the guy. For the record, I believe that ALL professional athletes are guilty of steroid use at some point in their career. They simply can’t afford the competitive disadvantage. The louder Penn squawks about Sherk on steriods is starting to make me think he may have a few skeletons in the closet.
LoL . . .
Its a big shout but more than possible, as per my above comment, i believe they are rife in MMA, the tests are easy to beat.
Randy is another one, to keep up that level of training at his age?? I ache to high heaven after a heavy workout and i’m 25. To train day in day out as hard as he does it wouldn’t suprise me if he has a little assistance.
Thats not hating, i am a big fan.
Ahhhhhhhh the power of assuming. Believe me when i tell you that chances are you are most likely half the athlete that Randy is. This guy has trained like this for years and years. To assume he is on steroids is just ignorant and like i’ve said in posts before very stupid. This is how rumours get started. “I know someone who saw Randy smoking pot about 5 years ago.” C’mon guy. It sounds more like jealousy. All these guys train extremely hard. Look at Hendo, Chuck, Salaverry etc who are all in their late 30’s and train like animals. They must all be on steroids because you can’t train as hard as them.
On a side note anyone who thinks that Sherk didn’t take steroids are probably people that still think that Saddam has a massive cache of WMD’s burried in the desert somewhere.
So lets get this clear, your saying Sherk definatly did juice (which i agree with) but no-one else in the UFC does?
So did Sherk only just start taking them for the Franca fight or had he been doing them for ages and beat the tests????
Tests are easy to beat, you can time your cycle so there is f*ck all in your system come piss time, trust me.
I am not saying Randy does or am claiming to be half the athlete (thanks for the put down), neither is it jealousy talking. But what i am saying is it would not suprise me if he was.
Actually, Randy is one of the people that I think is less likely to have done roids. Roids make you great in the short term, but after a decade… it is just unsustainable, and your body really starts breaking down.
I’ve said it many times… BJ is just pure enjoyment to watch. Immense talent, completely versed in every facet of the game. He has only ever been deficient in his cardio and I don’t think he has the stamina to last 5 rounds of MMA. BJ has to end it in 2 or Sherk takes over and grinds out a boring decision. My money is on Sherk.
All I know is that everyone of Sean Sherks quotes has been made with dignity and class. This guy knows what it means to be an “A” class MMA fighter. It is not “just about the fighting” as BJ puts it. It is about your perception of the fighter as well. Every quote that I have seen of Sherk has been well stated and with class. I wish I could say the same for BJ. This is why he is a bad lightweight champ.
I know a lot of people feel that Sean Sherk has been taking steroids his whole career. He tested positive for an illegal substance one time but never steroids. Whether or not he knowingly took the band substance is beyond me. He was accused of the wrong doing and now there really is nothing he can do to prove otherwise.
This situation is similar to a guy being accused of rape. Whether or not it happened he will still have that title over his head forever even if he proved in court that it didn’t happen. There will always be someone who doesn’t believe him or that don’t know all of the facts. Kind of sounds like quite a few people on this site.
Testing positive for ‘roids and rape aren’t even close to the same thing. First off Sherk failed the test. It was proven his levels were way off and tests confirmed it. There is a difference in being proven to be a cheater and a liar and being accused of something and being found innocent.
Sherk will always be known as a liar and a cheater because that is what the facts are. Tests were positive for nan and he still lied about it. If you wanna reference something similar, someone being accused of rape and being found innocent is not it. If you wanna go to the road of extremes how about this one.
Scott Peterson, even after his dead wife and childs body was found in a harbour still maintained his innocence even after there was a ton of evidence to the contrary. That woould be the same comparison. Even with proof of a test that he had this in his system Sherk still tries to say that he is innocent.
So what your saying SpiderStyle is that the CSAC doesn’t make mistakes? Sherk took 2 independant test, lie detector test, to prove he was innocent. If the CSAC was correct, why would they reduce Sherks sentence? There will always be mistakes in the way tests are done, and can you imagine what would happen if people found out that the CSAC was wrong? How many legal problems the CSAC would face? So ofcourse there not going to see if they made a mistake with Sherk, its better for them to just keep it the way it was and move on. Believe the man who went out of his way to prove he was innocent, instead of the suits that sit behind a desk and feel that there word is the gospel.
Oh my god i cannot believe there are people about who think that he didn’t take roids!
His levels were 200 times above the natural level. They tested hundreds of athletes at that last Oylmpics and the highest level found was 4mg… Sherk had 12, nuff said.
He was juicing, he fuc*ked up his cycle, get over it!
Thats such a sweeping statement “There will always be mistakes in the way tests are done” er no there wont.
Thats like saying er DNA profiles on rapists and murderers aren’t accurate because there will always be mistakes by men in labs with white coats, er on matters of this importance (incl sports stars doping) mistakes do not happen.
The test was accurate, lie detectors most definatly are not.
Great post JV. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
FYI, in case anyone has missed some of the steps of the CSAC vs Sherk Case.
This evidence brief was submitted to the CSAC, made public by Sherk’s lawyer and Sherk and publicly addressed by CSAC Executive Officer Armando Garcia. The following issues were addressed:
1. CSAC does not accept polygraphs as evidence. Don’t have any info about lie detector test or companies that administer them. Sherk’s submitted polygraph test ends up being irrelevant.
2. Sherk submitted blood tests, however, the time period in which they were taken could have allowed Sherk to cycle off, easy to refute this test. Sherk’s submitted blood test ends up being irrelevant.
3. The vial was not tested to see if traces of steroids were still in it. This is Sherk’s argument, that Quest Diagnostics is at fault, but one the CSAC will say operates a perfect process, end of story. Sherk’s argument ends up being irrelevant.
4. One supplement tested from Sherk’s independent, Xyience Xtreme Joint Formula, tested positive for a testosterone booster. FYI, Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, own a major stake of Xyience. In any case the testosterone booster in Xyience isn’t something CSAS tests for.
- CSAC Guidelines and the FAQ on their website cite studies warning that over-the-counter supplements could contain traces of steroids that could inevitably lead to a positive test. It’s up to the fighters to know what they are putting in their bodies. Sherk’s submitted supplement test ends up being irrelevant.
I know that he was proven guilty by the courts but it seems strange to me that they would reduce his suspension. Have you seen all the evidence. Have you read all the testimonies and come up with an educated conclusion. No, you are basing everything that you know off of hear say. This is why my analogy is correct. You have no idea whether or not he did take steroids.
Basing your opinions off of hear say is why things such as this will haunt Sean Sherk for the rest of his career. There is such a thing as flawed testing but they are not going to admit the system is flawed. The reason is as soon as they do then everyone that is tested will have a fall back argument. The system is flawed but it has to be there to deter athletes from using.
The guy never tested positive his entire career and then all of a sudden he tests positive. Seems weird to me since he has looked the same since he began fighting in the UFC.
You are just looking for a reason to discredit the man because you do not like him. As for your analogy it would make sense if Scott Peterson came up with documentation and alibi witnesses. Sean Sherk did bring evidence to defend himself.
Right on MMAFan1981, that was a well educated arguement. I definetly agree with you on these points. I’ve done alot of the research into Sherk’s case and though I do now believe he did take Nano, I don’t believe he took it willingly. The main reason would be based on the fact that Nano has no significant help to Sherk what so ever.
I am getting tired of the Penn nuthuggers, I know some of the Penn fans are chill but damn, no matter who that guy fights they don’t have a chance. No matter what the guy says, how disrespectful he can be, or how he admitts that he is now just starting to give a shit about MMA… his fans just swallow it and act like he’s a cool guy. Penn deserves resepct in the ring, but his attitude and his ethic are lacking in comparrison to almost any top level fighter out there.
Nick J what is 200 * 1? It sure as hell doesn’t equal 12. Also your facts are wrong about what the olympic athletes were testing at, it was lower than you posted. In defense of a 12 mg nano test and by your math the lady from Elite XC did about 200 times the normal for Sherk which would be 400 times the normal for a regular person. Literrally though, that is higher than it should be, it shows at higher levels when you are cutting weight thats why his looks monsterous when you compare him to an olympic athlete (people who don’t cut weight based on stamina).
“Thats like saying er DNA profiles on rapists and murderers aren’t accurate because there will always be mistakes by men in labs with white coats”
Really? So the mentally handicapped man who was arrested based on his birthday and last name being the same as a man who had escaped from prision 2 days prior, here’s the realy kick though the bum was in Cali and the convict escaped from New York. Don’t say mistakes don’t happen, who are you to make such a statement.
Also the guy is referring to one company who has reports of them being ill managed and lacks the leadership to even get all the board members to the meetings. Some of them walk out half way through the meeting. Don’t keep making such broad statements. People here are speaking on behalf of one fighter which was screwed over by one company, not all MMA fighters and all companies. Mistakes do happen.
- Here is what I ask… you prove to me without a doubt that Sherk took the roids. Thats how it should have gone between Sherk and CSAC. Sherk should have been blood tested after he showed positive with Nano. Also testing after the fight doesn’t make sense, they should always test the fighters a month before they go into the fight. The only reason they never did that before is because its a huge money loser. If the fighter test positive he’s out of the fight and there just went potential money and a potentially good fight to earn more fans. Its all about money in that business and if you prove CSAC wrong there will be plenty less of it for CSAC. So get me some strait evidence to convince me without a doubt. Post the links to the web sites you pull the info off as well. Thanks in advanced
I stand corrected about Nandrolone not being a steroid.
Crazy fight. Don’t kill me for this but besides Hughes and Gomi, who has Penn beaten that could be considered an all time great? In my mind in order for him to live up to the hype he has to beat Sherk and at least beat the winner of Huerta vs Florian.I bring this up because Sliva and GSP just seem to walk through people and yet Penn has lost to Hughes and GSP in the last 2yrs. Do I make sense?
I totally agree with you Robert. He has only beaten Hughes and Gomi. Hughes got his revenge in convincing fashion in their second fight. In my mind BJ Penn is overrated as a fighter. When he defends his belt multiple times against top competition only then will I give him the respect he has been given. That will not happen in one night against Sherk.
BJ Penn is the kind of guy who gets bored with something when he thinks that he has conquered it. Well he hasn’t conquered MMA until he proves that he can beat top level competition every fight. Sean Sherk is the first real test for BJ and we will see how he does.
BJ was coming off of two loses to get the title shot with Jens. So he beat an older, smaller Jens, Stevenson, good fighter but inexperience with top fighters, So why is BJ considerd one of the best?
His fight with Jens wasn’t for the title (2nd one that is).
I can’t WAIT FOR THE STAREDOWN AT THE WEIGH-INS!
I would love to be there for that alone.
This is going to be such a good fight. It worries me when I think about Penn getting caught and the fight ending quickly. Penn loves to rely on his chin when he come in to engage which leave him open for that big punch and too many fights have ended with a flash KO (Karo P). I just want to get my moneys worth on this fight, I am hoping for at least 3 good skilled round with BJ subbing Sherk mid third.