Sherk not happy that Aoki and Florian are ranked higher at 155
A strange thing happened to Sean Sherk since his loss to B.J. Penn, the guy has fallen off the map for many in consideration as a top 155 pounder. USAToday/Bloody Elbow's lightweight rankings only has Sherk No. 4 in the world. Included in those rankings are two sources that have Sherk No. 8 and MMAWeekly doesn't have Sherk in its top 10.
Even more odd is the fact that BE's rankings have Kenny Florian ahead of Sherk at No. 3. Sherk posted a shutout in a five round fight against Florian back at UFC 64 yet eight of the 20 services used by BE have Florian ranked ahead of Sherk. So what's changed? Sherk doesn't understand and says the love affair with lightweights fighting in Japan is also troubling:
"There are guys ranked above me, that I've seen, that I know damn well I can beat. Rankings don't mean squat. (Shinya) Aoki is a good example. He's a big 155 pounder but he's got no boxing, no wrestling. Where does that leave you in the UFC? You can't wear pants, so guess what? You're in some trouble. I'd like to see a lot of those guys come here and I think eventually they will."
Watch Sherk speak with Cagewriter about his place in lightweight division:
Sherk is hoping a win over Frank Edgar Saturday night at UFC 98 will move him further up the rankings and back into a position to challenge for the UFC lightweight title.
Sherk also talked about the new UFC video game: UFC 2009 Undisputed. He has not had a chance to try the game but he heard his character looks good. He's hoping that "video Sean Sherk" is not one-dimensional and that his improved boxing is represented. Sherk also talked about his new doll action figure. "The Muscle Shark" didn't take kindly to us calling it a doll. He was heavily involved in the final product. That includes making sure that his loyal sponsors were represented on the figure.
Sherk told Cagewriter and the rest of the collected media at UFC 98 workout day that he's got a lot of respect for Edgar's wrestling. It sounded like he's ready for a standup fight thinking that the two fighters may nullify each other when it comes to wrestling.
Join TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah on Cagewriter for a live chat on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Maggie Hendricks will chat throughout UFC 98's main card on Saturday night. Cofield will have live fight-by-fight updates. And following the card, the only postfight show from the MGM after UFC 98 is right here on Cagewriter starting at 1:30 a.m. ET. You can listen here.
