I want to believe
Sherk would 110% beat Chandler, Charles, Conor, Dustin probably not Armen or Islam.
Toss up with Gaethje
Sherk was an issue
No way Jose
I usually hate when people throw out the “mma has evolved too much” argument. But in this case it’s true. Sherk was just a roided up muscle man wrestler. Nothing special at all
All those guys clear him and finish him
All this time and you still don’t know what you’re watching…how?
MMA isn’t THAT evolved from his era, and to think a guy of Sherk’s level cannot adopt is ridiculous.
You still have tons of one dimensional fighters at the top of most divisions. Wrestling is the number 1 base for MMA. He’d do just fine
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I feel like he’d have to go down a weight class or two, but he’d do well today provided he updated his training
That GSP, Hughes, Penn, Serra, Karo, Sherk, Lytle, Diaz, Fitch, Koscheck, Trigg, Lawler, Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez era of WW was a lot of fun.
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You don’t know what you’re talking about. Ever.
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Not even close lol
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Yeah it could be interpreted like that,
However maybe it’s because their strong point are getting cancelled out by others who have been training on their weaknesses more( or wrasslin or lack of wrestling, working and understanding how to neutralise it
I don’t think he’d dominate the sport today, but he’s definitely more than a muscled dwarf. He was world champ and only has losses to the elite. The era with gsp, bj penn, florian etc isnt that far off from where the sport is now. It’s evolved, but not to the point where any of them would be way out of place nowadays
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Sherk has heavy hands like Gaethje, but he’s also willing to mix in takedowns. Gaethje isn’t. I think Sherk would initiate an exchange and then (successfully) double leg him.
And Islam hasn’t faced anyone with the wrestling ability and willingness of Sherk.
I just don’t see it. Colby essentially refused to fight and Leon still couldn’t finish him. Then when Colby decided to actually show up in the final round, Leon couldn’t stop his wrestling.
Dustin, Gaethje, Chandler–none of them ever even attempt to wrestle despite supposedly having wrestling credentials. And when they face (at least Dustin and Gaethje) someone who’s willing to wrestle (Khabib), they have nothing for him.
I don’t think we’re seeing skillsets neutralized as much as we’re just not seeing them at all. LW has one wrestler in it at the moment, and he’s dominating everyone. He’s the only person in the division willing to actually wrestle to get a win and it’s working great for him. It was the same thing with Khabib.
WW is no different. Usman stopped wrestling and fell in love with his hands. Colby refused to fight at all his last time out. The person everyone was saying should dominate the division is, you guessed it, primarily a wrestler who actually uses his wrestling.
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A decent brown belt from one of today’s elite gyms like New Wave, B Team, or ATT would likely beat UFC legends of old because combat sports have evolved. It would be like 1950s NBA players competing against today’s best college basketball players. The college players would toy with them.
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Can you give any examples of this evolution? Because I’m just not seeing it. If we’re talking the UFC from the 90s, sure. But the UFC during GSP’s time? During Pride’s heyday? Things have regressed from that period. You had guys with more varied skillsets and more standout individual skills.
The only real advantage modern fighters have is the ability to more efficiently cut weight and thus come in at a larger size.
this is correct
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Where in the blue hell are you getting the idea that Sherk was a good striker? “Heavy hands like Gaethje” rofl 
He was basically Sean Brady, though more explosive but less of a finisher. His striking amounted to swinging his t-rex arms enough to get your attention so he could blast takedowns.
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And it was effective. Either you defended the strikes and he got the takedown, or you didn’t and he clubbed you. That is effective, integrated striking. Now contrast it with someone like Gaethje or Chandler or Dustin or Conor where all you have to worry about is the striking because none of them would ever try for a takedown.
I agree with that in theory, but it was not the case with him. He never clubbed anyone. His striking was not dangerous. He rarely even landed. He definitely never showed “heavy hands like Gaethje”.
His takedowns were so effective not because of his striking but because he was so much faster, more explosive and physically stronger than his opponents. Talking about guys like Kenny Florian, who had a high skill level but was not terribly gifted physically. When Sherk fought other fast, athletic guys (GSP, Hughes, Edgar, BJ), he didn’t have such an advantage and often lost.
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Okay, I’m willing to agree that he was not a threat on the feet the same way that someone like Dustin or prime Conor was. However, he used his striking to good effect to land his takedowns.
Yeah I agree he was great at that. It’s all about misdirection. You have to be fast and explosive to do that, so it’s not something just anyone can do. People would see it coming a mile away from, let’s say, Ben Askren.
On the other hand, some don’t need to hide their shots. Khabib never hid his because he would just chain wrestle if at first he didn’t succeed. Everyone has their own way of doing things.
Fighters like Dustin and Justin, who you mentioned, have no reason to fight like Sherk. Their strengths are standing.
It would have been smart for someone like Cejudo to adopt, but he also prefers to stand most of the time even though it’s not his biggest strength.
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Dude was juiced to the fucking gills. He’d probably be a 135er today
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