12 Questions for Sean Sherk
Career Reflections
TJ De Santis May 18, 2009
Sherdog: What do you consider the most difficult moment you have
had to deal with in a fight?
Sherk: I would have to say the whole Nandrolone thing coming into the B.J. Penn fight. I got booed by 20,000 fans at the MGM Grand. People hated me. My boos were louder than B.J. Penn’s cheers. It was just crazy. To come in losing my belt for something I didn’t do, and then coming into fight a guy that I wasn’t too fond of, and then the entire MGM Grand hates you and wants to see you get your ass kicked … that was the toughest situation that I have had to deal with. I still shrugged it off and was able to fight to the best of my ability, but I could have very easily let that situation bother me.
Sherdog: Coming in to that fight, there seemed to be a lot of animosity between you two. He talked a lot of trash about you before the fight. Afterwards, he said it was all for show and just to hype the match. Do you still have any ill feelings towards Penn?
Sherk: No, I have no problem with B.J. We squashed whatever the issues were. He wanted to build the fight up, and I took that personal. I wasn’t sure if he was building the fight up or if he really felt the way he said he did. You know, I was pissed off; I’m not going to lie. We squashed that issue. We had a chance to go to Vegas and hang out for a few days and film a TV show. B.J.’s a good guy. He’s one of the toughest guys in the world, and he knows how to build fights on top of that. He does his job and earns his paycheck.
Sherdog: Who do you consider the most talented fighter you have
ever fought?
Sherk: Georges St. Pierre, bar none. Every time I see him fight, he just looks better and better. The guy is just a crazy good athlete, and the crazy thing is the guy probably hasn’t even hit his prime yet. He has got to be one of the favorite guys that I actually like to tune into and watch.
Sherdog: St. Pierre really showed that you needed to move down to 155 pounds, not because you did not have the talent to succeed there, but the size difference between you and some of those guys seemed to be too much. How do you think you would do if you were still competing in the welterweight division?
Sherk: I think I would still fare well. I’m confident that I would do well at any weight class within reason. I could adapt to a bigger weight class. I know the competition has gotten better, with guys like [Jon] Fitch and [Josh] Koscheck and [Thiago] Alves, but I’m confident that I could fare well with all of those guys. I think I could still be a top five or top 10 guy at that weight class, but I’m real comfortable at 155, and I have no desire to go back up to 170.
Sherdog: What’s it like for you to make 155? Is it more difficult, or is it just a matter of staying in the sauna a little bit longer?
Sherk: Well, it’s a matter of changing my entire lifestyle for 12 weeks. My diet is very, very strict. I do pre-cuts four weeks before every fight. I mean, I actually practice cutting weight. I did it a couple of weeks ago. I cut down to 158 on a Saturday just to get my weight down. Now I’m walking around at, like, 175 again. It’s all about getting your body acclimated. It’s all about getting that metabolism speed up. I naturally sweat a lot anyway, so the water comes off real good. There are a lot of factors in there. For me to lose 20 pounds, no, it’s not easy. It sucks ass. I’ll be honest. It’s not fun at all, but it’s something I can recover from by the time I fight. Within 30 hours, I’m 100 percent again; I’m 175 pounds again. I feel like I didn’t even cut the weight.
Sherdog: Let’s talk about Sean Sherk the family man. You have two kids now, right?
Sherk: Two boys.
Sherdog: Do they know that dad is kind of a celebrity?
Sherk: I’m just dad. I’m nothing special to them. I’m the guy who takes care of them and hangs out with them. They don’t think any different. They’ve never seen me fight, as far as I know. Maybe they’ve seen me fight one time. I don’t even think my kids know what I do for a living. I know people have asked them in the past, but my kids shrug their shoulders: “I don’t know what my dad does.” I don’t really make it an issue for them. I don’t push fighting or training on them. I just want them to choose their own path and not have any type of pressure to be like their dad. Eventually, when they get older, I’m sure they’ll figure it out, and they’ll think it’s pretty cool and stuff. We’ve got the action figures at the house. They know their dad has an action figure. They don’t think anything of it. As far as they’re concerned, everybody’s got an action figure. They don’t know how unique that is, you know?
Sherk: I would have to say the whole Nandrolone thing coming into the B.J. Penn fight. I got booed by 20,000 fans at the MGM Grand. People hated me. My boos were louder than B.J. Penn’s cheers. It was just crazy. To come in losing my belt for something I didn’t do, and then coming into fight a guy that I wasn’t too fond of, and then the entire MGM Grand hates you and wants to see you get your ass kicked … that was the toughest situation that I have had to deal with. I still shrugged it off and was able to fight to the best of my ability, but I could have very easily let that situation bother me.
Sherdog: Coming in to that fight, there seemed to be a lot of animosity between you two. He talked a lot of trash about you before the fight. Afterwards, he said it was all for show and just to hype the match. Do you still have any ill feelings towards Penn?
Sherk: No, I have no problem with B.J. We squashed whatever the issues were. He wanted to build the fight up, and I took that personal. I wasn’t sure if he was building the fight up or if he really felt the way he said he did. You know, I was pissed off; I’m not going to lie. We squashed that issue. We had a chance to go to Vegas and hang out for a few days and film a TV show. B.J.’s a good guy. He’s one of the toughest guys in the world, and he knows how to build fights on top of that. He does his job and earns his paycheck.
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Sherk: Georges St. Pierre, bar none. Every time I see him fight, he just looks better and better. The guy is just a crazy good athlete, and the crazy thing is the guy probably hasn’t even hit his prime yet. He has got to be one of the favorite guys that I actually like to tune into and watch.
Sherdog: St. Pierre really showed that you needed to move down to 155 pounds, not because you did not have the talent to succeed there, but the size difference between you and some of those guys seemed to be too much. How do you think you would do if you were still competing in the welterweight division?
Sherk: I think I would still fare well. I’m confident that I would do well at any weight class within reason. I could adapt to a bigger weight class. I know the competition has gotten better, with guys like [Jon] Fitch and [Josh] Koscheck and [Thiago] Alves, but I’m confident that I could fare well with all of those guys. I think I could still be a top five or top 10 guy at that weight class, but I’m real comfortable at 155, and I have no desire to go back up to 170.
Sherdog: What’s it like for you to make 155? Is it more difficult, or is it just a matter of staying in the sauna a little bit longer?
Sherk: Well, it’s a matter of changing my entire lifestyle for 12 weeks. My diet is very, very strict. I do pre-cuts four weeks before every fight. I mean, I actually practice cutting weight. I did it a couple of weeks ago. I cut down to 158 on a Saturday just to get my weight down. Now I’m walking around at, like, 175 again. It’s all about getting your body acclimated. It’s all about getting that metabolism speed up. I naturally sweat a lot anyway, so the water comes off real good. There are a lot of factors in there. For me to lose 20 pounds, no, it’s not easy. It sucks ass. I’ll be honest. It’s not fun at all, but it’s something I can recover from by the time I fight. Within 30 hours, I’m 100 percent again; I’m 175 pounds again. I feel like I didn’t even cut the weight.
Sherdog: Let’s talk about Sean Sherk the family man. You have two kids now, right?
Sherk: Two boys.
Sherdog: Do they know that dad is kind of a celebrity?
Sherk: I’m just dad. I’m nothing special to them. I’m the guy who takes care of them and hangs out with them. They don’t think any different. They’ve never seen me fight, as far as I know. Maybe they’ve seen me fight one time. I don’t even think my kids know what I do for a living. I know people have asked them in the past, but my kids shrug their shoulders: “I don’t know what my dad does.” I don’t really make it an issue for them. I don’t push fighting or training on them. I just want them to choose their own path and not have any type of pressure to be like their dad. Eventually, when they get older, I’m sure they’ll figure it out, and they’ll think it’s pretty cool and stuff. We’ve got the action figures at the house. They know their dad has an action figure. They don’t think anything of it. As far as they’re concerned, everybody’s got an action figure. They don’t know how unique that is, you know?
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