Ultimate Fighting Championship 84, ‘Ill Will’

Steve Marcus

Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, above, goes up against B.J. Penn in tonight’s main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. This is Sherk’s first fight since testing positive for steroid use after a fight in July in Sacramento. Sherk has maintained his innocence. UFC President Dana White notes that the two fighters “hate each other.”

By Jeff Haney

Saturday, May 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Steve Marcus

Penn, the defending lightweight champion, chastised Sherk over the steroid incident. "Fighting is the most important thing in the world to me. When someone ... perverts it, I can't deal with it," he says.

1. An innocent man?

Sean Sherk sees tonight’s title fight as a big step in rebuilding his reputation among mixed martial arts fans after he tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone at UFC 73 in July in Sacramento, where he beat Hermes Franca. Sherk has vehemently maintained his innocence and vowed never to fight in California again. In the buildup to tonight’s bout, his first since failing the urinalysis, Sherk dismissed Penn as “a lot of hype,” “overrated” and even “pudgy.” Sherk had his game face on at Thursday’s prefight news conference at MGM. “There’s been a lot of stuff said between us,” said Sherk, of Oak Grove, Minn. “It’s over. It’s time to fight. That’s it.”

2. Saved by fighting

B.J. Penn, of Hilo, Hawaii, became a two-division UFC champ when he beat Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 for the lightweight championship left open because of Sherk’s suspension by the California State Athletic Commission. “If it wasn’t for this sport, I’d be being a bum right now drinking a beer at the beach,” said Penn, who has held the UFC welterweight title. Penn instigated a vicious war of words with Sherk by suggesting Sherk had to “cheat” with steroids to win his belt. “Fighting is the most important thing in the world to me,” Penn said. “When someone else goes and perverts it, I can’t deal with it.”

3. One for the ages

UFC President Dana White has hyped the headliner, which pits a strong wrestler in Sherk against a top-notch striker in Penn, as one of the best MMA matches of the year. “This is a fight where whether you’re a hard-core fan or someone who just got interested in the UFC, people are pumped about this fight,” White said. “It’s an exciting, rare moment when you get to see two of the best fighters in the world face off and find out who the best is. This is what professional sports and what fighting is all about, when you’re able to make great fights like this ... It doesn’t suck when they hate each other, either.”

4. Farewell bout?

Thanks in part to a long-simmering personality conflict with White, Tito Ortiz (16-5-1) plans to make tonight’s light heavyweight showdown with Lyoto Machida (12-0) his last with the UFC before he pursues free agency. Ortiz, a 2-1 betting underdog, is coming off a draw with Rashad Evans and a loss to Chuck Liddell. White did not seem sorry to see Ortiz go, calling him an “idiot” and “one of the dumbest human beings I’ve ever met.” (For the record, Ortiz has characterized White as one of the dumbest people he has ever met, too. So there.) “I have no interest in being in the Tito Ortiz business anymore,” White said. “I put up with his (nonsense) when he was a good fighter. He’s not anymore. I’m done.”

5. Working class hero

Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1), one of the most exciting and accomplished MMA fighters in the sport’s history, acknowledged he feels extra pressure heading into his bout against Keith Jardine off three consecutive losses. Jardine is expected to enter the octagon as roughly a 3-2 underdog, but he pointed out he fought his way into the UFC’s elite by scoring upsets, including one against Liddell in September. “I’m a working-class guy with a working-class fan base,” said Jardine (13-4-1). “There’s not a lot of marketing behind me. I got here by winning fights I wasn’t supposed to win.”