Sean Sherk - "The Muscle Shark"

Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk was born on August 5th, 1973. Fighting in both the UFC and PRIDE MMA leagues, Sherk has proven himself as a fighter to be reckoned with. After beginning standard wrestling training at the age of seven, Sherk moved on to the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy to train under Greg Nelson. He trained hard and fast and his coaches quickly realized that, with training in wrestling, Muay Thai, Shooto, and Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, Sherk was a prime candidate for a professional career in MMA fighting.

Sherk began his professional MMA career fighting for the Combat Submission Wrestling team at the Dangerzone MMA event in Minnesota. After leaving a trail of defeated opponents in his path his was picked up by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2001. Following a tough loss by decision to Matt Hughes in 2003, Sherk went on to win the PRIDE Bushido 2 event in Japan. It was there that his nickname "The Muscle Shark" came to be, stemming from the Japanese word ‘katakana’ which means both Shark and Sherk in that language.

After another massive win in Kona, Hawaii, Sherk went on to win eleven fights in a row by submission or TKO. Despite this, he was not picked again by UFC. Following the birth of his first child, Sherk left professional MMA fighting to help run his father's flooring business. He continued to express his bitterness at not being invited back to the UFC through the media, and aimed his discontentment largely at the new and unproven fighters being given the same opportunity via the Ultimate Fighter reality television show.

After that same television series gave the UFC a huge boost in popularity following its first season, UFC management invited Sherk back for a bout with welterweight contender George St. Pierre. Although Sherk lost that fight by TKO, the UFC decided to offer him one last chance, inviting him to battle Nick Diaz in UFC 59. Sherk defeated Diaz handily with a unanimous decision, earning him his first win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since 2002. Sherk quickly announced his intention to lose enough weight to drop a class into the lightweight division. Only six months after his win over Diaz, Sherk defeated Kenny Florian by unanimous decision, becoming the UFC’s lightweight champion.

After taking a break to rehabilitate after he tore a rotator cuff, Sherk returned to defend his title against Hermes Franca in UFC 73. He won by yet another unanimous decision after a full five rounds.

All articles...

Aleksander Emelianenko

Anderson Silva

Andrei Arlovski - "The Pitbull"

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - "Minotauro"

B.J. Penn

Brad Blackburn - Bad

Brandon Vera

Bryan Vetell

Chris Lytle - Lights Out

Chuck Liddell

Dan Christison - The Sandman

Dan Henderson

David Tank Abbott

Denis Kang

Diego Sanchez

Don Frye - The Predator

Ed Herman - Short Fuse

Eric Esch - Butterbean

Ernesto Hoost - Mr. Perfect

Fedor Emelianenko

Forrest Griffin

Frank Shamrock

Gabriel Gonzaga - "Napao"

George St. Pierre - "Rush"

Gilbert Yvel - The Hurricane

Hayato Sakurai

Heath Herring - The Texas Crazy Horse

Hermes Franca

Ian Freeman - The Machine

Igor Vovchanchyn - Ice Cold

Jason MacDonald - The Athlete

Jason Von Flue - Live Wire

Jeff Joslin - The Inferno

Jeremy Horn - Gumby

Joachim Hansen - Hell Boy

Joey Villasenor

Jon Fitch

Josh Barnett - "The Babyface Assassin"

Josh Burkman - "The People's Warrior"

Josh Koscheck

Karo Parisyan

Keith Jardine - The Dean of Mean

Kendall Grove

Kenny Florian - KenFlo

Lyoto Machida

Mac Danzig

Marcus Aurelio - Maximus

Mark Coleman - The Hammer

Mark Hunt

Mark Weir - The Wizard

Marvin Eastman - The Beastman

Matt Hamill - The Hammer

Matt Hughes

Matt Lindland

Matt Serra

Mauricio Rua - "Shogun"

Michael Bisping

Mike Swick - "Quick"

Mirko Filipovic - "Cro Cop"

Nam Phan

Nick Diaz - "Diablo"

Patrick Cote - The Predator

Paul Buentello - The Headhunter

Peter Aerts - The Dutch Lumberjack

Phil Baroni - The New York Bad Ass

Quinton Jackson - "Rampage"

Randy Couture - "The Natural"

Rashad Evans - "Sugar"

Renzo Gracie

Ricardo Arona

Rich Franklin

Richard Clementi - No Love

Roman Zentsov - The Russian Hammer

Sam Hoger - The Alaskan Assassin

Sean Sherk - "The Muscle Shark"

Shinya Aoki

Shonie Carter - Mr. International

Spencer Fisher - The King

Takanori Gomi

Tim Sylvia - "The Maine-iac"

Travis Lutter - The Serial Killer

Urijah Faber - California Kid

Yoshihiro Akiyama

Yves Edwards