The early pick for fight of the night has to be Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham, which absolutely got UFC 119 back on track after the lackluster Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens affair.
Sherk, who absolutely dominated as a lightweight prior to his steroid-related suspension, has struggled in his most recent fights. Even though one of those includes a win over the always-dangerous Tyson Griffin, Sherk just seems to have lost the ferocity that made him such a threat as Lightweight Champion. He also seems to have moved away from the wrestling that rendered high-level fighters like Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca completely neutral.
Evan Dunham, however, went into this fight as a touted lightweight prospect with an already-impressive list of victims on his resume. Adding Sherk to that list would be a big step in getting Dunham a shot or two away from top contendership.
Who won this all-out war? Results follow:
Sean Sherk b. Evan Dunham via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
*Story of the fight: The decision was probably the wrong one, but as the fight was so action-packed and so close, it is hard to get too up in arms about the result.
Sherk returned to his takedown strategy to claim the first round. As with Hermes Franca, Dunham’s instinct was to apply guillotines as a defense, but Sherk’s resilient neck allowed him to stay out of harm’s way. Sherk bloodied Dunham late in the first round.
Dunham, however, rebounded from the opening round beating with stronger takedown defense and better use of his striking advantage. Dunham did not get a dominant advantage here, but he definitely made the shorter-Sherk pay on the feet. His counters to Sherk’s takedowns were also far more effective.
Dunham continued the onslaught in round three, showing a particular competency for punishing Sherk with knees. Sherk tried an early takedown, and when it was clear that he did not have the energy to do any real grappling damage to Dunham, he was left to engage in a striking battle. To Sherk’s credit, he took a large number of shots and did a great job of firing back, but this was clearly a Dunham round.
Still, when a fight is this great, it is hard to dwell on the decision.
