Sean Sherk v. Hermes Franca, UFC 72

[Warchief]

Originally Posted by Soul_Edge

I am excited to see Sherk fight again.

Ya....me too.

[Dork8503]

im glad to see franca get the shot but he isnt going to win, sherk has good sub d, way to powerful for him, great wrestler, franca wont beat him on the feet either, franca has horrible stand up he just swings like a moron hopeing to connect, he was putting his head down and swinging, that wont work againt sherk, franca gets beat within 3

[Noob]

I'm really excited for this fight, but I agree with the general consensus here so far. Hermes is a good fighter, but his standup is too sloppy and Sherk, while not a great striker, is pretty disciplined about protecting himself when standing. I don't see Hermes landing one of his long, looping, haymaker punches on Sherk.

I really hope the fight doesn't degenerate into a LnP, but I can't see Sherk really working hard to pass guard, since he's comfortable working from within it, and I can't see Franca landing a sub either.

Either way, I'm looking forward to this one.

[jbart321]

Even though Sherk didn't put Florian away, he dominated that fight from beginning to end. He is very tough. I'd be surprised if Franca could knock Sherk out. GSP only ended the fight cause he broke Sherks nose. Tough little dude he is.

[Dork8503]

sherk is tough, i dont like franca i think people rode him to much and he is to sloppy, he is a good fighter i wont take that away but he is to sloppy to beat sherk,

[Afro]

Originally Posted by dork8503

sherk is tough, i dont like franca i think people rode him to much and he is to sloppy, he is a good fighter i wont take that away but he is to sloppy to beat sherk,

but why Sherk in 3? hes never finished a good fighter in his entire career!

Franca's BJJ game is too good for Sherk to pass guard and finish him especially when he couldnt get by Kenflo's guard

and people are only calling Franca because of the ONE FIGHT vs Fisher, no one was saying anything like that until the fight

Sherk wins by LnP.

[Dork8503]

i say this because i already said sherk would win by lnp but now i want to be different and say within 3

[blah]

Originally Posted by Noob

An expected July 7 UFC 72 event, which currently features a championship bout between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and rising contender Nate Marquardt, is also going to feature a title match between UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk (31-2-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and top contender Hermes Franca (16-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), according to MMAWeekly.com. Sherk, who’s been recovering from shoulder surgery since beating Kenny Florian for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 64, is perhaps one of the most underrated fighters in the UFC — if not all of MMA. His only two career losses have come to current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and former champ Matt Hughes.
Sherk actually needed the rotator-cuff surgery prior to his fight with Florian, but knowing he was given somewhat of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for a title, he delayed the procedure until after the fight. Although bloodied, he picked up a unanimous-decision victory over Florian and has been eyeing a first title defense sometime this summer.
It appears July 7 will be that date.
Sherk will face one of the hottest MMA fighters anywhere in the world. After going 0-3 in MMA action during 2005, Franca has posted eight consecutive victories from 2006-’07, including UFC wins over Joe Jordan, Jamie Varner and Spencer Fisher.
After that win over Fisher at UFC Fight Night 8 in January, Franca dropped to his knees and begged UFC president Dana White for a title shot — one he later said he would grant.
It appears White has made good on the promise.
With so many new acquisitions and an influx of UFC events scheduled this year, the title pictures in nearly every division have become hot news — except the lightweight division. There’s no doubting that Sherk is perhaps the most unknown of all the UFC champions and struggling to find much in the way of the limelight.
However, I attribute that more to his lack of activity than any sort of deficiency with his personality or fighting style (though some fans complain about his wrestling-centered strategies). Should he get a couple wins under his belt — and that’s no easy task, considering Franca — Sherk will surely become the superstar he deserves to be.

this is the least anticipated title fights of all (recent, since-I-started-following-mma) times for me.

[blah]

Originally Posted by jbart321

Even though Sherk didn't put Florian away, he dominated that fight from beginning to end. He is very tough. I'd be surprised if Franca could knock Sherk out. GSP only ended the fight cause he broke Sherks nose. Tough little dude he is.

sherk never remotely had florian in trouble and he won by a boring LnP decision. people were expecting another sanchez/florian outcome and that wasn't even close to being the case, and in addition, florian didn't even fight his best.

[blah]

so from that perspective, if someone ie franca gets finished by sherk, then he's worse than kenflo, who's a good fighter.