Dana: If Found Guilty, Sherk Will Be Stripped of Title

[Bullock]

Posted by UFC Junkie on August 24, 2007 at 2:45 am ET


If Sean Sherk’s appeal of a failed UFC 73 drug test is denied by the California State Athletic Commission, UFC President Dana White says he will strip the UFC lightweight champion of his belt.

White made the comments during a UFC 74 press conference in Las Vegas yesterday afternoon.

Sherk defeated Hermes Franca via unanimous decision at UFC 73, which took place July 7 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. However, after the championship bout, both fighters tested positive for anabolic steroids and were promptly fined $2,500 and suspended one year by the CSAC.

Sherk tested positive for elevated testosterone levels and nandrolone, an anabolic steroid.

Sherk maintains his innocence, and in a statement he released after the failed test, said he was investigating possible causes of the failed test with his attorney.

A source close to Sherk recently told UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) that the fighter’s legal team is testing a variety of supplements the fighter consumed during his training for UFC 73. According to the source, Sherk’s team hopes it can point to one of the over-the-counter supplements as the reason he unknowingly ingested a banned substance.

Sherk has retained Los Angeles attorney Howard Jacobs, who’s represented some of the sporting world’s biggest names in doping cases.

His appeal will be held in October.

Sherk (32-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) won the vacant lightweight title by defeating Kenny Florian at UFC 64 in October 2006. His fight with Franca was his first title defense.

[Dork8503]

i was waiting for Dana to day this

[matto]

wow how shocking... that is what is soposed to happen and has happened to sylvia in the past and everybody expected it. but sylvia got a title shot his first fight back.

[spinach]

Originally Posted by Dork8503

i was waiting for Dana to day this

It took to long to hear him saying it. He was dancing around it too much.

And his lawyers are doing exactly what I thought they would do .... but it's still not going to help.

[The Sundance Kid]

I would hope so.

[TriangleChoke]

Originally Posted by matto

wow how shocking... that is what is soposed to happen and has happened to sylvia in the past and everybody expected it. but sylvia got a title shot his first fight back.

sylvia actually admitted to cheating and relenquished his belt..he wasn't stripped.

[Gmunit]

Originally Posted by spinach

It took to long to hear him saying it. He was dancing around it too much.

And his lawyers are doing exactly what I thought they would do .... but it's still not going to help.

yeah it did take a while, but he was probably waiting top see if it would "blow over" and could avoid making a distinct statment such as this one

[2mcgrath]

i suspected that is what he would do,as he should do.

[Gurry]

finally, im so happy to hear this, and cant wait to see what danas going to do if sherks found guilty

[Severn]

There was no other way to resolve this in a satisfactory manner.