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Will we see Florian versus Sherk for the lightweight title?

August 4th, 2006 · No Comments · News

By Sean McClure
www.maxfighting.com
Friday, August 4, 2006

The two top contenders for the lightweight title are Kenny Florian and Sean Sherk. Pretty straightforward stuff there. The UFC makes the match and bam! we have a new lightweight champion. Again, pretty straightforward stuff. Should be easy as one, two, three and money in the bank for Zuffa the way it looks on paper. Check the upcoming pay per views and look for this fight. Do you see it? I would bet “no”.

Sean Sherk became the number one contender as soon as he dropped down in weight from 170 to 155. Kenny Florian became the other top contender by defeating Sam Stout at the Ultimate Fighter season 3 finale. Why hasn’t this fight happened you may ask? It’s simple…timing is everything.

When Kenny Florian was approached about his fight with Sean Sherk for the vacant lightweight title, he answered an emphatic “yes”. The UFC hashed out the proposed date and it looked like the fight was all set to jump off. Then rumors started surfacing about Kenny Florian ducking the fight with Sherk and refusing to gear up to fight. The internet forums lit up with accusations and speculations. Sherk posted the following on his website:

“I really wanted to fight on the UFC 62 card as planned. I told Joe Silva I will fight 155 or 170 for a title or a non-title fight but they were unable to find an opponent. It looks like I’ll be fighting in October now, I just took 2 weeks off training and I’m ready to get back after it now.

I have one goal in mind, to kick the *expletive deleted* out of Florian!!”

Sean Sherk

This sparked further speculation by fans and the internet forums again lit up with accusations of cowardice aimed at Florian. Kenny responded on his website with the following statement:

“I would absolutely fight Sean Sherk for the Lightweight Division Title. The UFC said I was fighting Sherk in October or November, and I accepted. Then, all of a sudden, they pushed for the August show. However, I just got off the Stout fight and I’m leaving for Brazil for two weeks. Realistically, I need more than 3 weeks to prepare for that fight. Sherk’s been on the sidelines training for a fight for several months.”

Kenny Florian

If you read Kenny’s statement and then examine Sherk’s, you would have to guess that they would face off on the UFC 64 card, where Rich Franklin will take on Anderson Silva on October 14. There is definitely some bad blood starting to show here and that is good business for the UFC and that should make for a more interesting and marketable fight. MaXfighting will keep you up to date on all of the developments of this fight as they become available.

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