UFC 98 Preview: The Main Card

Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar

The Breakdown: The evening’s opening pitch features a pair of hyperactive wrestlers in the form of Sean Sherk and Frankie Edgar, both of whom are looking to stake their claim to the winner of the upcoming lightweight title bout between Kenny Florian and incumbent champion B.J. Penn. Like any wrestling meet, this fight boils down to who can control the takedowns, whether it be by scoring his own or by stopping his opponent’s. While the skills are equal, Sherk is a converted welterweight and Edgar should be a featherweight. The New Jersey native struggled mightily against another gigantic wrestler in Gray Maynard.

It may seem overtly simplistic to let the size difference decide the direction of this bout, but Edgar doesn’t have the physical strength to resist Sherk’s light-speed takedowns. While there is always the chance that Sherk will look to keep this fight standing, he’s more than handled his own on the feet against the likes of Tyson Griffin and Nick Diaz. Regardless, I can’t imagine Sherk settling for a nip-tuck stalemate on the feet when he could easily overwhelm Edgar on the mat.

The X Factor: Of late, Sherk has been moonlighting as a striker by using his wrestling to stuff takedowns instead of scoring them. That strategy got him an LAPD-level beatdown from B.J. Penn and indicated a troubling trend for a fighter who is at his best when his wrestling guides him to the win. While Edgar is hardly the lightweight division’s resident Mike Tyson, Sherk is courting disaster every time he steps out of his comfort zone for the sake of showing off his striking. In a sport where every punch carries knockout potential, Sherk would do well remembering what has kept his head firmly attached to his shoulders after nearly a decade in the sport.

The Bottom Line: It’s hard not to root for Edgar, an undersized underdog with skill to spare and the sheer determination to brush off his disadvantages like so much dust. It makes for a compelling storyline, but it won’t make for a win. Sherk will seize the initiative early and suffocate him with three rounds of textbook top control peppered with the occasional bit of boxing to keep the lay fan interested. Hardly the performance you would expect from the nouveau fighter that Sherk promised he would become, but this is the fight where Sherk needs to realize that the fighter he has always been is the best fighter he can be.