In an exciting three round fight, Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk won a narrow split decision over fellow lightweight Evan Dunham. The fight was extremely close, with two of the three judges scoring the bout 29-28 in favor or Sherk while one judge scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Dunham.
The fight began with the fighters exchanging on their feet briefly. Sherk’s stance was low, and his right leg appeared to indicate that he was preparing to shoot. Without wasting any time, Sherk shot in and lifted Dunham in the air and slammed him to the canvas. Although Dunham was slammed on the ground, he caught Sherk in an extremely tight guillotine choke. Sherk has never been submitted before and although it was tight, he was able to pop his head loose—something that a lesser skilled fighter would not have been able to do. Dunham attempted this choke multiple times throughout the fight and was never able to make it work, partly due to Sherk’s compact, muscular frame and partly due to his top-notch submission defense.
Near the end of the first round, Sherk threw a hard elbow from Dunham’s guard, cutting him above the right eye. After the doctors checked the cut, the fighters exchanged briefly before the round was over. The second round saw a slightly different pace with some of Sherk’s takedowns being stuffed and the fight becoming more of a stand-up match. In the stand-up, Sherk clearly had the disadvantage, with his shorter reach and punches coming far too late. The third round saw Dunham inch ahead. He worked hard and put together a number of combinations on the visibly tired Sherk. The round ended with Dunham controlling the stand-up and pressing the pace.
Sherk started strong but seemed to fade as the fight went on. Being known for his cardio, it’s unclear why this was and it is certainly not what fans have come to expect from him. This fatigue seemed to have an effect on his performance, making the fight extremely close, and Sherk knew this. Even after the fight, Sherk said at the UFC post fight press conference, “I thought I had the first round pretty decisively, the second round was close, and the third round—I would give that to Dunham. It just depends on what the judges are watching. Obviously, any time you go to a decision you’re at the judges’ mercy.” Regardless of how close the decision may have been, a win is a win and Sherk is an excellent fighter. This win marks the first step on his road back to the lightweight title.
Sherk improves to 34-4-1 while Dunham falls to 11-1.
Tags: Lightweight, Sean Sherk, UFC
