Sean Sherk's Striking

[devante]

So who trains him in his standup?

It does seem like they trained him as if he was normal sized and not a midget, which simply plays into his weaknesses

So he should train on getting in close and throwing all those combo's to the body and not the head instead of standing back and trying to trade from afar?

i think greg nelson was tekkubg sherk to move his head, an throw his punches off of that; i.e. slip the shot counter to the body, use that to get in then open up on the inside. I think sherk jsut was intent on imposing his will and getting to bj instead of fighting smart, im not sure if its a lack of ability or a lack of discipline.

 

[uppercuts21]

I was actually incredibly impressed with his handspeed.

Unfortunately, he just showed an absolute lack of head & body movement.

BJ Penn on the other hand showed real solid boxing skills. Great jab, good head & body movement and he seemed to put his combinations together alot more effectively than Sherk.

As the fight progressed I realized that Sherk had no chance to win that fight. Penn is better than him at every dimension of the sport.

Lastly, I really think Sherks height and reach give him a significant disadvantage. His handspeed looked outstanding but he wasnt even close to hitting BJ with anything. Sherk hit BJ with a few jabs but I dont recall Sherk landing any more than 1-2 rights and uppercuts.

 

[IMAF#1]

He needs more foot work, head movment, angles, and needs to learn to adjust and change tactics. Hes quick, but thats about it.

But BJ didnt impress me either, He showed very limited boxing ability and tactics in that fight. Nothing but jabs, rarely following up, not enough angles. All he did was use his reach (which does take skill by the way) but hes got to do more with it.

 

[uppercuts21]

Sherk is a noob when it comes to striking. Ever see someone train on focus mits when the focus mits aren't moving? They can move fast and it looks good. but it looks good only because the pad holder is standing in one place.

That's Sherk, he punches fast but he doesn't move in with good footwork or evade with solid head movement.

He's just another ground and pounder who ended up not being able to take his opponent down and ends up having to stand up and strike.

Like BJ Penn stated earlier about Sherk. "the strongest muscle is here and here" when he points to his heart then his brain...then says, "Sherk doesn't have it" meaning, Sherk is all brawn and no brains.

Tito is another ground and pounder who becomes completely useless when he can't take the person to the ground and get top position.

Matt Hughes is another, who got dominated when he couldn't take GSP off his feet, and then got put straight on his back.

It surprises me time and time again, that the top elite MMA fighters can't do something as simple as evasive head movement and proper footwork. with the exception of a very few.

HAHA yeah,

It was amazing to me how Sherk could get hit consistently by the same punch for 3 rounds and not make any adjustments.

And Tito, dont get me started on him. The guy has been in MMA for 11 years and I think hes the same striker as he was 11 years ago. haha. I just havent seen him make any strides in that department.

But in all honesty I felt bad for Sherk. Hes been through alot and he fought real hard last night. Just like Tito. I wish them the best.

 

[Ted-P]

i think sherk punches fairly well, but his boxing is not all round effective; with his physical tools he could be a beast w/his boxing-phys strong, good wrestling, hand speed and durability.

in fact i think that is why he seems competitive, at least to the people who arent as familiar w/the finer aspects of boxing; he is a)busy w/his hands and b) he is committed to landing his strikes, an most people see a busy and committed guy an feel he is holding his own. When in fact he is just being ineffectually aggress; this was the case w/bj in the other two cases he was facing two guys who i don't consider two of the better boxers in mma, gsp is ok at overall striking and diaz though he trains boxing extensively is much like sherk in that he comes right in forces exchanges, difference being at times diaz uses a jab and a long left hand (i think he is southpaw)

for all his talk about his exp and knowledge of boxing, his application of said tech and skills is quite rudimentary; if his boxing had been better he would have koed gsp, as serra used pressure judicious but busy punching and smart/economical footwork, an body shots to setup gsp and land that HUGE shot to stop gsp. Serra was nothing special but his strategy and application of those principles was far superior to that of sherk.

What serra had was punching power and a hailmary strike to the back of the head.

I never said gsp and diaz were two of the better boxers in MMA. It's the fact that he was keeping even on the feet with two fighters who were supposed to be clearly superior on the feet at the time.

 

[devante]

What serra had was punching power and a hailmary strike to the back of the head.

I never said gsp and diaz were two of the better boxers in MMA. It's the fact that he was keeping even on the feet with two fighters who were supposed to be clearly superior on the feet at the time.

i have never been impressed w/gsp's standup; he is athletic and dynamic. But in regards to his striking he is BASIC, his wrestling/groundgame is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than his striking. An he has been exposed as another mma guy who can't deal w/pressure and can't handle a stiff jab, as bj lit his ass up the same way he did against sherk.

serra commited to getting to gsp and he used the right punches, an he used body shots and landed the "hail mary"; but he had to do certain things to land that hail mary, things that sherk couldn't manage to do in his fight w/gsp.

sherk just comes in and swarms, he doesn't diversify his shots not in the range, nor in the locale of his shots; i.e. he only goes to the head, he trhows the same punches again and again.

 

[Mithra]

i think greg nelson was tekkubg sherk to move his head, an throw his punches off of that; i.e. slip the shot counter to the body, use that to get in then open up on the inside. I think sherk jsut was intent on imposing his will and getting to bj instead of fighting smart, im not sure if its a lack of ability or a lack of discipline.

I remember hearing him talk about head movement but he didn't mention body shots or leg kicks...

 

[NinjaKilla187]

It's pretty good.

But he's gotta change his countering game abit. He tries to counter like someone who has a long reach.

He does it all the time, but it's just not that effective.

He looks like a guy that has spent a lot of time in front of the mirror and a lot of time on the bags and not NEARLY enough time sparring. I mean, that left hook is a beautiful shadow boxing technique but I will be gawdamned if he landed it even one fucking time.

He showed no ability to cut BJ off or close the gap he basically just followed him around the ring eating jabs. Watching him became torture. Honestly, Sherk looks like a guy with serious potential as a pugilist who has just not put the work in to really be effective.

BJ, on the other hand, is just nuts-and-bolts, 1-2 combo, boxing basics beautiful.

 

[Mithra]

He looks like a guy that has spent a lot of time in front of the mirror and a lot of time on the bags and not NEARLY enough time sparring. I mean, that left hook is a beautiful shadow boxing technique but I will be gawdamned if he landed it even one fucking time.

He showed no ability to cut BJ off or close the gap he basically just followed him around the ring eating jabs. Watching him became torture. Honestly, Sherk looks like a guy with serious potential as a pugilist who has just not put the work in to really be effective.

BJ, on the other hand, is just nuts-and-bolts, 1-2 combo, boxing basics beautiful.

Yea I agree but then again I know very little about striking....

It seems like he could be damn good on his feet(and thus get better openings for takedowns) with his sheer hand speed and chin strength but perhaps he needs to get a new boxing instructor who could train him to fight with his strengths

 

[Ted-P]

i have never been impressed w/gsp's standup; he is athletic and dynamic. But in regards to his striking he is BASIC, his wrestling/groundgame is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than his striking. An he has been exposed as another mma guy who can't deal w/pressure and can't handle a stiff jab, as bj lit his ass up the same way he did against sherk.

serra commited to getting to gsp and he used the right punches, an he used body shots and landed the "hail mary"; but he had to do certain things to land that hail mary, things that sherk couldn't manage to do in his fight w/gsp.

sherk just comes in and swarms, he doesn't diversify his shots not in the range, nor in the locale of his shots; i.e. he only goes to the head, he trhows the same punches again and again.

Sherk caught GSP cleanly couple of times in their fight. Sherk just doesnt have the power to hurt someone badly is the problem.

It's too bad GSP actually outscored Penn on the feet throughout the fight.

A fucking eyepoke and lucky ass noseclip does not mean a beatdown.

BJ is the better and more effective striker, but he did not beat GSP's ass in that fight.

fightmetric for the win.

 

[Mithra]

Sherk caught GSP cleanly couple of times in their fight. Sherk just doesnt have the power to hurt someone badly is the problem.

It's too bad GSP actually outscored Penn on the feet throughout the fight.

A fucking eyepoke and lucky ass noseclip does not mean a beatdown.

BJ is the better and more effective striker, but he did not beat GSP's ass in that fight.

fightmetric for the win.

Is his lack of power the result of having to reach to far to hit the face?

So if he fixes his footwork and goes to the body he should have more power?

 

[fightingrabbit]

so i guess the point of the thread is.

shitty boxing is better than no boxing and any boxing in mma is beautiful boxing.

 

[Yanoush]

Is his lack of power the result of having to reach to far to hit the face?

So if he fixes his footwork and goes to the body he should have more power?

Sherk just doesn't punch hard. Its not a result of his "midget" arms either, he has a 68 inch reach, which is the same as Hermes Franca (and a lot of other LWs) who has plenty of KO power.

But he can certainly overcome a lack of power with proper strategy and volume.

 

[Ted-P]

Is his lack of power the result of having to reach to far to hit the face?

So if he fixes his footwork and goes to the body he should have more power?

well he would land better shots...

For someone short, he really doesnt land his punches on the chin, but more on the upper head and face area.

to be honest, if he had really good punching power, he should have rocked a lot more people irregardless.

 

[devante]

He looks like a guy that has spent a lot of time in front of the mirror and a lot of time on the bags and not NEARLY enough time sparring. I mean, that left hook is a beautiful shadow boxing technique but I will be gawdamned if he landed it even one fucking time.

He showed no ability to cut BJ off or close the gap he basically just followed him around the ring eating jabs. Watching him became torture. Honestly, Sherk looks like a guy with serious potential as a pugilist who has just not put the work in to really be effective.

BJ, on the other hand, is just nuts-and-bolts, 1-2 combo, boxing basics beautiful.

bingo-he has the theory DOWN, i been saying that, but his application is poor and that come from a lack of in ring time; too much pad/bag work and shadowboxing, not enough time in the ring. When u spar alot, u learn to adjust things, hand position, body position, timing, distance, the angle u throw punches, the angle u keep ur body; sherk and most mma guys don't seem to have that in their arsenal which results in them looking quite poor and making them basically ineffectual. An the best example of their lack of sparring exp, is when they get popped they start flailing like amateurs.

even if ur tech isn't sharp or good having alot of time in the ring or just striking period will allow u to get comfortable taking abuse, maintain conditioning to apply your skills, an make adj to make those tech effective. Im sure sherk KNOWS what to do, but he can't do it, his knowledge outshines his ability; an i have that problem too, i can break down and tell someone exactly what to do just from knowing it and training. But i don't train enough or spar enough to pull it off against a certain calibur of opponent, sherk has the same prob; alot of actual knowledge, but poor applicative abilities.

example i saw these guys spar, one guy was training boxing-lot of padwork, bagwork, shadowboxing etc; but he didn't spar alot, hardly ever. He actually sparred a guy who just had done alot of toughman and had sparred alot of amateurs/pros; an the trained guy got handled, he just couldn't apply the skills eff against a lesser skilled, conditioned and refined guy. He initially got off; but eventually just ended up getting knocked around.

 

[Mithra]

bingo-he has the theory DOWN, i been saying that, but his application is poor and that come from a lack of in ring time; too much pad/bag work and shadowboxing, not enough time in the ring. When u spar alot, u learn to adjust things, hand position, body position, timing, distance, the angle u throw punches, the angle u keep ur body; sherk and most mma guys don't seem to have that in their arsenal which results in them looking quite poor and making them basically ineffectual. An the best example of their lack of sparring exp, is when they get popped they start flailing like amateurs.

even if ur tech isn't sharp or good having alot of time in the ring or just striking period will allow u to get comfortable taking abuse, maintain conditioning to apply your skills, an make adj to make those tech effective. Im sure sherk KNOWS what to do, but he can't do it, his knowledge outshines his ability; an i have that problem too, i can break down and tell someone exactly what to do just from knowing it and training. But i don't train enough or spar enough to pull it off against a certain calibur of opponent, sherk has the same prob; alot of actual knowledge, but poor applicative abilities.

example i saw these guys spar, one guy was training boxing-lot of padwork, bagwork, shadowboxing etc; but he didn't spar alot, hardly ever. He actually sparred a guy who just had done alot of toughman and had sparred alot of amateurs/pros; an the trained guy got handled, he just couldn't apply the skills eff against a lesser skilled, conditioned and refined guy. He initially got off; but eventually just ended up getting knocked around.

So Sherk needs to spend a couple hours a day sparring?

 

[rednoseBJJ1989]

Bj outboxed him badly and the suprising part was just that he didnt even try to take it to the ground to show his ground game that just shows how hard Penn is working now he's back and better than ever before[/COLOR]

 

[devante]

the reason jens boxing is soo good or gomis is effective is because they focused on their boxing, they spar pros and put a certain amount of time to improve their legit boxing.

just like grappling or wrestling, u cant half ass it, u have to work on ur pure grappling, not ur mma grappling.

to box in mma u have to focus on ur boxing, get down certain tech, strategicy, skills; even if they are a basic skillset. Then learn to apply them in the mma realm, if u do it the other way u get exposed when facing an opp who has more comfort/skill in the area of pure boxing (drills/sparirng/etc)

i just get the impression sherk hasnt put in enough work w/the actual boxing pure boxing, which is why he can't apply the tech/ strategy in a dynamic situation. an that goes for alot of mma fighters

 

[Ted-P]

I'm gonna have to disagree on gomi.

The main reason for gomi's success is his goddamn chin and power.

It's ridiculous how much of his defense consists of blocking with his face(his goddamn chin has to be the best in the division...never seen him rocked, hurt or stunned). And it's not even like he's particularly clean, accurate, or efficient striker.

But the guy commits to his punches and gets inside even if it means getting punched in the face.

 

[Sinister]

You've never seen Gomi rocked or stunned? If I'm not mistaken didn't Diaz do that?