Kenpachi Zaraki
11-27-2008, 09:23 AM
In a recent interview with Fiveouncesofpain.com's Sam Caplan, Sean Sherk vents his frustrations with the fact the UFC Lightweight title is now on hold with champ BJ Penn moving in weight to fight Georges St. Pierre for the Welterweight title:
"With 155, it’s one of the most stacked weight classes right now and the unfortunate thing is that there is no one at the top of it defending the belt right now. There are a lot of guys fighting their way up to the top trying to get title shots and then once you get up to the top, you’re like, “Okay, so where’s the champion?”
You don’t even have anyone to fight so it’s kind of frustrating to me and it’s got to be frustrating to other guys because nobody really knows what’s going on right now. It just kind of sucks. I think if you’re going to be a champion for the weight class then you should stay at that weight class and defend the belt. If you go to a different weight class then the belt should be left behind and give somebody else an opportunity to fight for it."
Sam Caplan: So you’re saying that if B.J. wants to go after the welterweight title currently held by Georges St. Pierre that he should have to relinquish the lightweight title?
Sean Sherk: To be honest with you, if you’re going to be gone 13, 14, or 15 months, I think you should relinquish the belt. There’s a lot of guys right now fighting their way to the top and trying to get that belt. A lot of guys want that number one contender spot. Once you get that number one contender spot, then what? The champion is gone. The champion is fighting at 170 so now when you get up to that number one contender spot you can’t even fight for a belt because the champion is not competing in the weight class anymore.
For me, it’s a hard pill to swallow because I want to be the number one contender; I want to fight for the belt. Okay, but where’s the champion? Kenny wants to fight for the belt. Okay, but where’s the champion? We’ve got no champion to fight so basically we just keep fighting for the number one contender spot. The number one contender spot is pretty much the championship belt, I guess.
"With 155, it’s one of the most stacked weight classes right now and the unfortunate thing is that there is no one at the top of it defending the belt right now. There are a lot of guys fighting their way up to the top trying to get title shots and then once you get up to the top, you’re like, “Okay, so where’s the champion?”
You don’t even have anyone to fight so it’s kind of frustrating to me and it’s got to be frustrating to other guys because nobody really knows what’s going on right now. It just kind of sucks. I think if you’re going to be a champion for the weight class then you should stay at that weight class and defend the belt. If you go to a different weight class then the belt should be left behind and give somebody else an opportunity to fight for it."
Sam Caplan: So you’re saying that if B.J. wants to go after the welterweight title currently held by Georges St. Pierre that he should have to relinquish the lightweight title?
Sean Sherk: To be honest with you, if you’re going to be gone 13, 14, or 15 months, I think you should relinquish the belt. There’s a lot of guys right now fighting their way to the top and trying to get that belt. A lot of guys want that number one contender spot. Once you get that number one contender spot, then what? The champion is gone. The champion is fighting at 170 so now when you get up to that number one contender spot you can’t even fight for a belt because the champion is not competing in the weight class anymore.
For me, it’s a hard pill to swallow because I want to be the number one contender; I want to fight for the belt. Okay, but where’s the champion? Kenny wants to fight for the belt. Okay, but where’s the champion? We’ve got no champion to fight so basically we just keep fighting for the number one contender spot. The number one contender spot is pretty much the championship belt, I guess.