By Jesse Holland
UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite following his bout at UFC 73: “Stacked,” according to the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
Sherk has been fined $2,500 and suspended for one year (effective as of July 7).
Nandrolone levels can range from 2ng/ml to 6ng/ml depending on the person and the level of activity. Sherk tested positive on both samples at 12ng/ml.
I said a lot of great things about Sherk leading up to this fight. Now I have to take them all back.
Sean Sherk, like every other doper or cheater, has betrayed his fans and his sport.
That’s not all.
Earlier today, Sherk’s opponent that evening, Hermes Franca, contacted MMAWeekly to apologize for testing positive for Drostanolone.
Franca, too, was fined $2,500 and has been suspended for one year.
Here’s the public apology from Franca:
“In the next few days, the results from the California Commission will be released. The tests will show that I had a “banned substance” in my system.
I would like to apologize to my fans, the UFC, my students and family. I offer only an explanation and not an excuse. I made a decision during a difficult time in my training for the fight that I regret.
About 8 weeks out from the fight, I badly injured my ankle during a training session. For the following week I had rested it, rehabbed it and tried to work around the injury. It was obvious that I could not train as required.
I contacted the UFC and explained my injury and how I could not possibly train to the level I thought I would need in order to be properly prepared for my fight. I asked the UFC if we could push the fight out to the following UFC with the chance that it could happen. They explained that they could not do that and that the card had been set and it isnt as easy as just moving around a fight. I totally understood their position. They asked me to keep them informed should I not be able to fight.I had not fought for 5 months. Fighting is literally how I put food on my wife and childs table and how I pay my bills. As a fighter though, even at this level, I live a simple life and I literally live from fight to fight. Not getting a paycheck for another few months and losing my chance to fight Sean for the title was overpowering. Fighting is the life I chose and I love it.
As a lightweight fighter, our purses are comparatively small. The public sees the payouts. As lightweights, we do not pull down the money anything near the bigger guys. Its just the way it is. I think Sean fought and defended his title for less than $30,000. Its no ones fault, its just the market. I love the sport, I love the people in the
sport.At this point I was desperate and needed anything I could to get my injury as close to healing as possible and be able to recover from the daily training regimen I was going through. I made the shortsighted choice to hopefully accelerate the healing process and allow me to keep training. Under the pressure of literally not being able to pay next months bills I made a choice. I had to fight and did whatever I could to do so.
I hope my fans, students, the UFC and the public accept my sincere apology. Whatever punishment is dictated by the California Athletic Commission I will understand. I would like to get through this very difficult time and the times ahead and get back to fighting. All the best to my fans and much thanks to my family and friends that continue to support me during these times.
–Hermes Franca”
While he certainly provides a sincere apology, I have a difficult time feeling the least bit sympathetic.
He talks about fighting being his love, his entire life, yet betrays it by cheating in a championship match.
He also cites desperation stemming from his financial difficulties. He is afraid of losing the winning purse that would support his family yet costs himself - and them even more in the long run by damaging his career.
I’m at a point where it just doesn’t matter what the reasons are anymore. Whether or not you agree with his reasoning taking drugs to help you in a fight is against the rules.
And when you break the rules you are cheating.
I used to make fun of my friends who are baseball fans. I guess nowadays they’re getting the last laugh.
Sherk was penciled in to defend his title against BJ Penn in November of this year. Unless he appeals and this finding from the CSAC is somehow overturned, it looks like that bout is no longer on the table.
Furthermore, it could set up yet another championship bout for the vacant 155-pound title if the UFC decides to strip Sherk of his strap.
Stay tuned.
207 Comments »
okay i just read this on mmaweekly to,but i also read one where it said sherk tested positive to is that true ufcmania? what is with all this drug use in the sport now they know their gonna get caught…soo i dont get it and they ALWAYS lose did you notice that.
They should just do what BB players do, use it and train then quit taking it and just maintain the mass with hard workouts and you can pass the test and still have the roid fueled extra mass.
He and no other fighter that has tested positive for banned substances are “sorry”!!! They are ONLY sorry they got caught. Period! If the test would have come back clean, do you think he would have volunteered this info? Of course not. They are just sorry that they have to go through this. A very selfish act.
This is getting old too. Watching the weigh-ins, Franca looked like he never looked before. Never thought he would have juiced though. These positve tests have to come to an end. I dont know how, but it has to stop. Pisses me off.
I’m surprised Sherk hasn’t tested positive before….
He had to do something if he wanted to beat sherk!! Question in my mind is if he just did it to get over an ankle injury, or if he did it to get an edge over Sherk. Either way is stupid, but if he did it so that he can fight, thats forgivable. Doing it to get an unfair advantage would make him a loser in my book.
The sad thing is you can get huge and ripped without roids if you just put in the time and effort. These people are just lazy and want the quick way.
There’s no way Sherk tested positive, he’s just not the type.
http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Breaking-News:-Sean-Sherk-Tests-Positive-As-Well.html
DID THEY TEST SEAN SHERK???..THATS ROIDS RIGHT THERE!! Come on man..he didn’t get freakish body type by just taking his flinstones and eating an organic carrot.. PLZ can some1 test him.
Nice Masteron, it has really low side effects besides, hair loss and acne, it doesn’t aromatize, so you don’t have worry about bitch tits or hair loss. I wonder if he realized that metabolites can stay in your system for 3 weeks? I hope Sherk won’t test either.
I also read about the Sherk positive test. The UFC (and Zuffa’s other leagues) needs to step up both the testing and the penalties. Right now, as I understand it, the only testing is by the various state athletic commissions. Those same commissions hand out the penalties. Some recent shows (like the one in England) had little or no testing.
Zuffa needs to aggressively attack this issue themselves. One needs to consider the political climate as well, especially considering the issues facing pro wresting. (Like it or not, many will view MMA and pro wrestling is the same frame due to audience and, at times, marketing.) The UFC has had congressmen negatively interested in the past. Don’t let them get lumped into the baseball and wresting circuses.
First and foremost, if the reported Sherk test is true, strip him of the belt, just as Tim Sylvia was. Then start testing EVERYONE on a set standard at EVERY show. Make sure it meets or exceeds the requirements of the state commissions.
Lastly, make examples of violators. If someone hits a baseball a little farther, it’s cheating. If someone in MMA strikes harder it could, under extreme circumstance, be health / career threatening to the opponent. Zuffa needs to make the fighters fear for their livelihood if they cheat. They’re risking nothing less in their opponents.
OMFG the list continues to grow. Does anyone else find it funny that all these guys getting caught lose their fights? From now on test all the losers of every fight! lol
The UFC really has to stop randomly selecting fighters to be tested after the fights. They need to test EVERY fighter after EVERY fight. This is a sport where having the type of advantage that steroids and other performance enhancing drugs can cause serious injuries to an opponent. During the height of the steroid era in baseball the homerun totals were sky high. They were simply able to hit the ball harder. That would equate to a fighter being able to hit an opponent that much harder as well. They really need to get this under control before someone get seriously injured in the octagon. Because we all know that that is the worst thing that can happen to this sport. Then to add the fact that the fighter that inflicted the damage was on steroids… If that were to ever happen the UFC would sure have a lot on their hands!
AaronW, did you just call Sherk and Franca Lazy!? Says the guy behind the keyboard.
sherk has tested positive……………to me its not surprising
For real. Never would have thought Hermes would have done that. Just goes to show. I would put money on that Forrest Griffin juices as well. He came in SOOOOOOOOO heavy at his last fight without a shred of fat on him. JUICED!!!
It has been confirmed that Lightweight champion Sean Sherk has also failed his post-UFC 73 drug test as well. His opponent Hermes Franca released a statement claiming he would be coming up positive when the next set of test results were made public by the California State Athletic Commission.
Sherk tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite and has been fined $2,500. He will be suspended until June 26, 2008 (nearly a year). Normal levels of Nandrolone range from 2 ng/mL to 6 ng/mL - where as Sherk was found with 12 ng/mL.
wow, TEST EVERY FIGHTER AFTER EVERY FIGHT!
WOW! Sherk tested positive. Will be forfeit the belt like Tim Sylvia did? or will there be an interim champ?
Wow… fuck these two them.
Its amazing that fighters will take everything they have and flush it down the toilet…
Sean Sherk looks like roid injecting midget
Do you think they will strip Sherk of the title?
sherk tested positive also it says it in the link i just posted. I dont blame hermes, he needed money and needed this fight, while i know he made the wrong decision, i respect him for coming clean and admitting to doing this (something we rarely see). I mean look at floyd landis, the dude tested positive for high testosterone levels twice and he still won’t admit to it. Hermes owned up to it and i hope he only used it for an injury, not for an advantage.
man….im real disappointed with that…
big muscle shark fan, thats pretty sucky….
strip him of the title, got to.
i truly admired how hard he trained and dieted for fights, but looks like he wasnt doin it on his own.
GIVE THE TITLE TO BJ(J) PENN, THOUGH, TEST HIM FIRST.
my guess is he will be stripped like barnett was after he tested positive way back at ufc36…putting an interim champ would make zuffa look bad…they need to show there are consequences for your actions
Sherk tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite which does this to your body: The positive effects of the drug include muscle growth, appetite stimulation and increased red blood cell production and bone density. the last is BONE DENSITY, talk about strong knuckles…
Kenny Florian the lightweight champ?
I have always respected Sherk and after seeing him fight this last time I was in awe of his phisical capabilities, but now i see it was all fake, i believe he should be stripped of that belt……isnt that what might happen mania since he cant fight for a whole dam year????!!!
[quote comment=”107971″]AaronW, did you just call Sherk and Franca Lazy!? Says the guy behind the keyboard.[/quote]
If they are doing ‘roids to get in shape….yep I did. I didn’t say I wasn’t lazy or deny my own massive steroid use…wait did I just type that.
UFC will have to take the title away from Sherk. It couldn’t afford to not have a lightweight title fight for a year. Especially with so much talent in the division. Only question is….who will BJ Penn face off against?
Ah Sean how dissapointing………..Same Shit Gracie tested for.
I agree that they need to be more aggressive about testing. As far as punishment goes, 1 year for Franca seems worthy.
wow 1 year. i guess there will be no Bj Penn vs. Sean Sherk now.
Strip the belt
Let Daddy and Penn fight for it and Florian fight the winner.
[quote comment=”107984″]Do you think they will strip Sherk of the title?[/quote]
No doubt about it. Sylvia and Barnett were stripped of their ufc titles after testing positive, so there is no way Sherk is keeping the belt. He is out for a year anyway, so that is too much time to keep a belt in limbo
Anyone else guessing Penn vs Stevenson for the vacant title?
Btw, Stephen Bonnar was clean…
Yep every fighter needs to be tested at regular intervals and before each fight as long as they are on a UFC contract. Sherk needs to be stripped of his title immediately. Which is cool, no more Sherk lay and pray fights!
When did Tim Sylvia test positive? I missed that.
[quote post=”2779″]Anyone else guessing Penn vs Stevenson for the vacant title?[/quote]
That sounds pretty good. What about these kids from the Ultimate Fighter, though? We know they were at least clean during the shows. Are the fights on the Ultimate Fighter the only shows that are “completely clean?”
Anyone else guessing Penn vs Stevenson for the vacant title?
Good call, there are the two most deserving.
Why do the results come out post fight instead or pre fight? Instead of producing tainted results the UFC should be more active in testing while the fighters are in training. This way they can produce clean shows.
[quote comment=”108007″]Strip the belt
Let Daddy and Penn fight for it and Florian fight the winner.[/quote]
i think thats the right thing to do.
I am not going to lie, it is a sad day today, for the simple fact that so many of our beloved MMA fighters are starting to pop positive for steroids, this is for sure putting a hurt on our sport!!!
UFC 78
BJ Penn vs Florian, Kenny deserves another chance, since he lost to Sherk for the title, and we know now that Sherk was all juiced up when he beat Florian.
being a bj penn fan i am dissaopinted. i really wanted to see him dismantle the ’shark’. maye bj’s upcomming fight will be for the title (two top contenders for an unowned title). who knows what dana will do. knowing him he is going to give it to the next TUF winner.
[quote comment=”107944″]They should just do what BB players do, use it and train then quit taking it and just maintain the mass with hard workouts and you can pass the test and still have the roid fueled extra mass.[/quote]
Uh, no. They should not use them at all.
I wonder if the UFC is going to go public with some sort of statement. With such little media coverage there really is not any sort of pressure on Dana White to come out and make a statement or to publicly announce hard rules. It would be a real mistake for the UFC to not come out and address the fans amid the chaos that is going on with Baseball and Wrestling. Like a previous poster said, it is time to make an example and I think that Sherk is expendable.
[quote comment=”108010″]Yep every fighter needs to be tested at regular intervals and before each fight as long as they are on a UFC contract. Sherk needs to be stripped of his title immediately. Which is cool, no more Sherk lay and pray fights!
When did Tim Sylvia test positive? I missed that.[/quote]
It was right after his fight with Ricco, when he first won the title.
TUF the championship season!
one UFC newcomer will become the new lightweight champ!
it will make for good reality tv.
then BJ, Florian or Daddy could brutaly beat the kid up and get the belt.
or even better have a light weight grand prix and the winner gets the belt.
If Joe Daddy wins at 74 it should be Ken-Flo vs Joe Daddy too see who faces Penn after that. maybe throw a Huerta/Thomas fight together too fight one of the losers of the other fights for #1 contender.
[quote comment=”108012″]Anyone else guessing Penn vs Stevenson for the vacant title?
Good call, there are the two most deserving.[/quote]
Ya, I mean Stevenson has been on a tear lately. His win over Edwards is huge, and he has definitely put in the time needed to get the title. I don’t see anyone more deserving of a shot, even Penn.
They should have a lightweight tournament. Like the old UFC days. That would be sweet.
Florian,Stevenson,Penn, Huerta, Griffin, Spencer, Stout, Thomas, IT WOULD BE AWESOME
Why don’t they bring in Takanori Gomi from Pride to fight BJ Penn for the title?
It’s something like this that makes BJ Penn look that much better. But imagine BJ on steroids, he’d be a BEAST!
Gomi vs Penn II would be awesome. The first fight was great.
Now that I think of it, that would be sweeter, UFC and Pride TOP 10 tournament
[quote comment=”108022″]TUF the championship season!
one UFC newcomer will become the new lightweight champ!
it will make for good reality tv.
then BJ, Florian or Daddy could brutaly beat the kid up and get the belt.
or even better have a light weight grand prix and the winner gets the belt.[/quote]
I think that is a great idea. I’d limit it to 8 fighters, with each round it’s own ppv (even the finals)
Penn
Stevenson
Florian
Edgar
Huerta
Guida
Griffin
Nate Diaz (for winning tuf)
You could even extend it to 16 with some other tuf fighters (Manny, Lauzon), especially if they brought in some Pride talent (Aoki, Kawajiri, Hansen, Melendez)
If Franca had stayed clean he would’ve won the title by Sherk’s forfeiture. This just sucks. Guess BJ will be champ sooner than we thought.
I say that BJ Penn has earned the right for the immediate title shot. With that being said I think Daddy v. Florian needs to take place to see who fights Penn.
Bah I left out Thomas, Fisher, and Stout. Shows how stacked the lw division really is, lol
[quote comment=”108033″]If Franca had stayed clean he would’ve won the title by Sherk’s forfeiture. This just sucks. Guess BJ will be champ sooner than we thought.[/quote]
It would have been a No Contest I’m pretty sure, which we will see for sure since both tested positive. Then it would have been Franca vs Penn for the belt in all likelyhood
I think it is pretty apparent that the UFC will trip Sherk of the title. They are trying to build up the lightweight division, and already did Sherk a favor by waiting umpteen months for his shoulder surgery to heal up without a title defense. And now another year in suspension.
BJ’s a bigger name and draw as champion altogether. He’ll fight the next contender, and build the champ from that. Sherk is ridiculous.
I’m not sure Zuffa can financially afford regular steriod tests. Their greedy fighters already get most of the income, haha.
Anyone else think neither will get a shot at the big time again? This will be the highest profile test failure by far, being that the ufc is at it’s height, BOTH test positive, and the steroid issue has become so bad. Royce testing positive was bad enough, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of both fighters in a championship fight failing a test. There is going to be a huge backlash from this
Wow. This is some bad press for the UFC. Trying to establish a legitimate fighting league and not only does one of your champs test possitive, so does the guy he beat. Very Bad!!
I don’t know enough about the testing procedures, but is it possible that the levels in Sherk’s system could be natural?? The guy does take a lot of supplements…..
They should strip Sherk of the title and ban him from the UFC.
It was just obvious with Sean Sherk. Just look at him. Hes a midget that walks around probably weighting 185LBS normally and cuts down to 155LBS. At least thats what Joe Rogan said. So i always thought Sean was on RoIdS. I say STRIP THE LOSER OF HIS BELT. Have a fight of the top two contenders for the vacant belt. BJ Penn vs. Roger Huerta. Thats what needs to be done now.
Instead of begging for a title shot Franca should have begged for a raise.
BJ PENN VS ROGER HUERTA
This is complete crap. The UFC does not do enough to prevent steroid use, instead choosing to leave testing to the state athletic commissions after events, just like the WWE does with its “wellness program.” If the UFC is serious about rooting out steroid use then it needs to administer random drug tests for steroids and recreational drugs to every active fighter throughout the year, not just after fights. The organization takes in more than enough money to be able to test everyone on a regular basis.
glad to see the article take such a negative stance against it. i play college rugby in the us, and when you get into the top 20 teams, about 50% of the kids are on steroids. fuck it all
[quote comment=”108051″]Wow. This is some bad press for the UFC. Trying to establish a legitimate fighting league and not only does one of your champs test possitive, so does the guy he beat. Very Bad!!
I don’t know enough about the testing procedures, but is it possible that the levels in Sherk’s system could be natural?? The guy does take a lot of supplements…..[/quote]
Not possible. If you look Nandrolone up on Google you will see that he was about 4 to 6 times the acceptable limit. This is a common testing procedure for Olympic qualifiers.
Honestly, I think Penn thought Sherk was the only lightweight that could challenge him, which is why he was going to stay. My prediction, Penn to 170 while Florian and Stevenson battle for the vacant title.
wow…iam very disaponted in hearing this…why would any champion in there right mind take steriods? its stupid and when your the champion do you really think there gonna let you not fight for 1 year and still be the champ when you come back? lets get serious now….now i hope they have the 2 top contenders (bj penn,joe stevenson) fight for a vancant title
[quote comment=”107973″]For real. Never would have thought Hermes would have done that. Just goes to show. I would put money on that Forrest Griffin juices as well. He came in SOOOOOOOOO heavy at his last fight without a shred of fat on him. JUICED!!![/quote]
Dude, Forrest on steroids?? Give me a break. He has the same physique and body mass in all his fights. Secondly, the guy trains with Randy. A guy like Couture would never affiliate himself with a juicer.
BTW, props to Hermes for ‘fessing up. As for Sherk, it was a only a matter of time before he got busted.
This hurts so much. I’m not a big fan of Sean Sherk, but I respect and admire his work ethic. Sherk’s drive for success is amazing; it is so unfortunate that this report came out that he used steroids. I am a big fan of Franca and it sucks that he tested positve, too. It hurts the UFC, the fans and MMA in general that both two fine fighters will be out of the sport for a whole year.
MMA organizations need to come up with something before people start looking at MMA like they do WWE type of entertainment, as a bunch of big steroid bodied men putting on a show. This discredits everything about the fight and makes the sport look really bad. MMA needs to get to the problem before it gets too big like baseball, just learn from the history of the mlb steriod problems, and don’t make the same mistakes, capitalize off them. Sherk and Franca now suspended, legend Royce Gracie was suspended, and several others have tested positive, it’s time for MMA leadership to step up. An I think a one year punishment is fair for the first strike, but for two they should be banned. An I really use to respect Sean Sherk, but any organization should strip any man of the belt if he test positive. It’s sad, I heard Joe Rogan after UFC 74 kids should look up to Sherk and get motivated to train as hard as he does, now all those kids have too see this news. Another thing that sucks is many others as well as I were looking forward to Sherk and Penn fighting, now I guess it should be Penn and Florian for the belt. Also that was a very well said article about lightweight losers, well put ufcmania.
how was it not obvious to everyone that sherk is a user? that guy is a piece of crap and deserves the worst.
Year of the title upsets continues…
it doesn’t get much more disappointing than this, i was really really looking forward to sherk vs. penn, all i got to say is the ufc better strip the belt from sherk, there’s no way he deserves to hold on to it through a year long suspension, damn sherk, that is so damn disappointing man, so damn disappointing…so now i guess its gonna be bj penn vs. either stevenson or florian for what better be the vacant lw title, i say give the fight to stevenson if he beats pelligrino he deserves it…
i like the tournament idea too, there are so many good lws, a tournament spread out over a year could make that division even more exciting than it already is…
If MMA wants to gain the respect that it deserves, the UFC needs to test every fighter after every event, period. Mainstream sports like baseball, football, etc can’t do this because it would cost a fortune to test everyone. The UFC doesn’t employ THAT many fighters so they could easily cover the costs involved. With all the positive results that have showed up lately, MMA is looking exactly how it’s been percieved over the years, two meat-heads locked in a cage beating on each other. If the UFC doesn’t want to look like the WWE, Dana had better step it up.
STRIP HIM!,
KenFlo v. BJ Penn for the vacant title
No wonder Sherk was such an animal on All Access. He was having a fit of roid rage as he slammed the sledge hammer and flipped the tires. He has to be one of the dumbest people in the sport to do this. He spent over a year out of the sport because he couldn’t make enough money. He finally gets a championship belt and the opportunity to be marketed and make a lot of money, and he chooses to lose it all by taking steroids?
The best thing about this is that hopefully we’ll never see him in the UFC again. I don’t even want to see him back in the end of 2008. When you’re about to watch a Sean Sherk fight, you are basically guaranteed to see a half hour of one guy lying on top of the other and doing just enough work not to get stood up. I don’t remember the last time I saw an entertaining Sean Sherk fight. Oh yeah, now I remember, it was GSP beating the living day lights out of him! Sean Sherk spent too much time in-between fights with his damn injuries during training. That is not acceptable for a champion. A champ should have to defend the belt at least 3 times a year, not every 10 months.
Good riddance Muscle Shark!
this is awesome. Down with Sherk. No more dry humping. BJ Penn vs Daddy for the belt!!!!! Then Title shot for Florian! HOW PIMP IS THAT!!!???? I hate lay and pray. Sherk can floss with a piece of rope in between his two fronnt teeth cause he did so many roids
[quote comment=”108087″]If MMA wants to gain the respect that it deserves, the UFC needs to test every fighter after every event, period. Mainstream sports like baseball, football, etc can’t do this because it would cost a fortune to test everyone. The UFC doesn’t employ THAT many fighters so they could easily cover the costs involved. With all the positive results that have showed up lately, MMA is looking exactly how it’s been percieved over the years, two meat-heads locked in a cage beating on each other. If the UFC doesn’t want to look like the WWE, Dana had better step it up.[/quote]
Well-said man, well-said.
Bunch of amateurs. No better than boxing. Dana - Keep it up and the audience won’t be booing just for boring fights. What a bunch of bs. I bought the fight on ppv - I’d be better off buying the Harlem Globetrotters v. Washington Generals. Combined with the Tito Rashad draw and people really want to complain about b