MMAVu

UFC 84 is right around the corner on May 24, and the main event is Lightweight Champion BJ Penn defending his title against former champ, Sean Sherk. I will score each fighter out of 10 in each category and the prediction at the end.

Striking:

Sean Sherk has some decent punches and combos, but by UFC standards, they’re quite average. Add to the fact he’s a short guy with short arms, and his striking falls a bit below average. BJ Penn on the other hand, has the best hands this side of Anderson Silva. Penn has fought, and competed very well in a losing effort, against Lyoto Machida, who is still undefeated. Machida, who is a Light Heavyweight fighter, actually handed Rich Franklin his first knock out loss while standing. As well, back at UFC 58, BJ Penn bloodied up current Welterweight King Georges St. Pierre on the feet in the first round before gassing in the second and third rounds. When it comes to kicks, neither are known for their kicks, but the edge goes to Penn here too. Elbows? Sherk throws ineffective sporadic elbows as shown in his last fight against Kenny Florian, while BJ’s elbows opened the gushing blood geyser on Joe Stevenson’s head on route to Penn’s last victory. If you look closely as Penn locks on his fight-ending rear-naked choke, blood squirts out of Stevenson’s head and covers Penn’s forearm.

Sherk: 7.0/10
Penn: 9.5/10

Submissions:

Sherk has decent submission skills; he has several submission victories via rear naked choke, arm triangle, key lock and neck crank. He had Kenny Florian in multiple fight-ending submission positions but was only able to muster sporadic hammer-fists and knees to the body. He only uses subs when the opportunity presents itself. He won’t have that luxury against Penn. On the other hand, BJ Penn was the first non-Brazilian to win the Mundials, a black belt Brazilian Ju-Jitsu tournament. Penn will often use his rubber-man-like flexibility in his legs as a third arm and trap one of his opponents arms while securing a rear naked choke.

Sherk: 7.0/10
Penn: 9.0/10

Wrestling:

Here is where Sherk posts his first advantage over Penn. Penn is a decorated wrestler with a low center of gravity and super strong core. Sherk can take down anyone in the UFC with a 90% success rate. He mixes his punches up, times his shots, then drives forward with reckless abandon going for the takedown. Penn is not known as a wrestler, but his takedown defense is out of this world. At UFC 63, Matt Hughes, try as he might, could not take BJ Penn down to the mat. Ditto for St. Pierre in the first round. Penn has the ability to hop around on one foot like a pogo stick and maintain his balance, while feeding you uppercuts. Once down however, it’s all Sean Sherk.

Sherk: 9.0/10
Penn: 8.0/10

Defense:

I’m going to include all types of defense in here, from take down defense, to avoiding damage while on the ground, to striking. Sherk has not really had to show much take down defense lately, as his opponents usually don’t try to take him down; Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre being the exceptions to the rule. A thing to note is when St. Pierre did take Sherk down, he quickly handed Sherk the only TKO loss of his career. That being said, it WAS Georges St. Pierre grounding and pounding him, not some average schmuck. As a wrestler, I would assume his takedown defense is excellent. Sherk isn’t known much to engage with known strikers, so his defense for a striker is to take him down…fair enough. Lastly, his defense on the ground is very good. He lasted 25 minutes in a ground war with Matt Hughes, and Kenny Florian tried submissions all night long on Sherk to no avail.

BJ Penn has one of the best, if not the best takedown defenses in all of mixed martial arts. When his gas tank is full, it is nearly impossible to take him off of his feet, even though he is not a heavy or exceedingly strong guy. He just knows balance and leverage so well so for the first 2-3 rounds, Sherk will be out of luck if he tries to take Penn off his feet. Striking? Penn’s defense is a good offense. This is a guy who gave St. Pierre so much trouble standing that GSP had to take Penn to the ground. This was in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of their fight, when Penn seemingly gassed. On the ground, whether attacking or defending, BJ Penn will use his leg like a third arm, giving him an unfair advantage no matter what position he’s in. The guy has the flexibility of a 12 year old Romanian gymnast. When St. Pierre did take Penn down, he was unable to land any meaningful shots. As BJ said after the St. Pierre fight, “I went to the club, he went to the hospital.” After seeing what St. Pierre does to guys on the ground, it’s a wonder how Penn wasn’t even marked up after the fight with St. Pierre. Barring the separated rib which robbed Penn of his gas tank in his UFC 63 fight with Hughes, the Hawaii native’s defense is impeccable.

Sherk: 8.0/10
Penn: 10/10

Chin:

Sean Sherk can take one hell of a punch!! In his last fight with Hermes Franca, Franca constantly tried to time his knees for Sherk’s takedown shots, believing one well-timed knee would be it, ala Koscheck vs Fickett. Franca finally found the range in the middle of the fight, thrusting his knee up as Sherk dove in for a double-legged takedown. Franca’s knee connected flush on the unprotected chin of Sherk just as Sherk lunged in. With a regular guy, you’d turn out the lights because the party would be over, but Sherk instinctively grabbed Franca’s leg, and amazingly completed the takedown!! Penn has a very good chin as well, though he hasn’t been hit with the artillery Sherk has. Sherk can probably take the better punch, but Penn is so dynamic he hasn’t had to absorb such a blow. Penn has never been knocked out in his career, Sherk has one TKO loss.

Sherk: 9.0/10
Penn: 8.5/10

Cardio:

This is the category where Sherk has an unfair advantage over Penn. Sherk can seemingly and fight for hours and hours, while cardio has been Penn’s Achilles Heel. If Penn’s cardio was good, he’d be battling Anderson Silva for the world pound-for-pound title…but it’s no, and it has cost him fights. With a reputation for indifference towards cardio training and pushing 30, Penn needs to turn the ship around on this aspect, or a sure-fire Hall of Fame career could turn into a merely great one.

Sherk: 9.5/10
Penn: 7.0/10

Sherk Total: 49.5/60
Penn Total: 52.0/60

On paper, BJ has the advantage in most areas, but not by a whole lot. Sean Sherk is an animal in the Octagon. Prediction: Penn by 2nd round submission.