Belated congrats to Sean Sherk and Greg Nelson

Big shoutout to Sean Sherk on his UFC 119 win over Evan Dunham. Great job done by Sherk and his trainer Greg Nelson. Sherk’s been with Nelson since way back in 1994, and a lot of you experienced his expertise first-hand at the excellent seminars he’s held at Kombat.  Hopefully we can have Nelson back at Kombat soon.

During the bout, commentator Joe Rogan gave credit to Sherk’s infamous conditioning routines. No kidding. There are gym rats, and then there’s Sean Sherk. This match was particularly interesting because Sherk had been away from the cage for over a year. In an interview with Sherdog leading up to fight night, he addressed the topics of conditioning and ring rust:

It’s been over a year since you’ve last fought. Are you anticipating having a slow start or ring rust?

“No, not at all. I’ve been competing since I was 7 years old, you know, it’s not like you just forget how to fight, you know, because you took a year off. I think, if anything, I’m totally 100% rejuvenated and I’m excited to get in the Octagon again. So, I don’t anticipate any type of ring rust, you know, I’ve had about a 17-week training camp for this so it’s not like I’m sitting at home on my butt watching TV, eating potato chips, and I just decided to jump off the couch and fight. I’ve had 17 weeks of preparation for this thing so I’ll be more than ready.”

Any chance of over-training?

“No. No. I mean, when I say 17 weeks I mean, you know, 6 of those 17 weeks were just technique, technique, technique, technique and you know 11 or 12 of those 17 weeks were training camp, you know, sparring, still doing technique, foot work, you know, all kinds of different conditioning and lifting weights and 11-12 weeks of preparation. That’s how I always do it, so I think that my timing and preparation was perfect for this fight.”

For an idea of how intensely and intelligently Sherk trains, check this video of him doing a caveman workout. Notice that it says “Sean has not done this workout before, nor will he do it again.” Also notice that some of his rest periods are active rest periods. It’s no wonder the man never gasses!

(pic via)