Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Sean Sherk’s hearing before the California State Athletic Commission has again been rescheduled MMAWeekly learned on Thursday.
He last went before the commission on Oct. 31, thinking that he would finally have a resolution to his appeal of the positive test result for performance enhancing substances following his July 7 fight with Hermes Franca.
That hearing was derailed, however, when it was revealed that not all of the commission members had reviewed the brief from Sherk’s lawyer detailing his defense. The CSAC then granted a continuance until Nov. 15 to give the commission members time to consider the document.
That date has been scrapped and a new date of Dec. 4 has now been set.
In the meantime, Sherk has grown increasingly frustrated with the situation. As he said in an exclusive interview with MMAWeekly on Wednesday, “I’m in the hands of the California commission and I don’t know if they’re not taking this case as serious as they should or what the deal is, but it’s real, real frustrating for me.”
The UFC has also decided to take proactive steps, announcing a fight between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson on Jan. 19 for an interim lightweight title while Sherk sorts out his situation with the CSAC.
As UFC president Dana White said on the promotion’s website on Thursday, however, it isn’t for his lack of belief in his champion.
“The belt can’t be in limbo for this long. I’ve said since the beginning that I believe in Sean Sherk, but we have to support the athletic commission in whatever decision they make. As soon as Sean Sherk can put all of this behind him, he can get right back into the Octagon, and he will be given an immediate shot at the lightweight championship.”
He last went before the commission on Oct. 31, thinking that he would finally have a resolution to his appeal of the positive test result for performance enhancing substances following his July 7 fight with Hermes Franca.
That hearing was derailed, however, when it was revealed that not all of the commission members had reviewed the brief from Sherk’s lawyer detailing his defense. The CSAC then granted a continuance until Nov. 15 to give the commission members time to consider the document.
That date has been scrapped and a new date of Dec. 4 has now been set.
In the meantime, Sherk has grown increasingly frustrated with the situation. As he said in an exclusive interview with MMAWeekly on Wednesday, “I’m in the hands of the California commission and I don’t know if they’re not taking this case as serious as they should or what the deal is, but it’s real, real frustrating for me.”
The UFC has also decided to take proactive steps, announcing a fight between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson on Jan. 19 for an interim lightweight title while Sherk sorts out his situation with the CSAC.
As UFC president Dana White said on the promotion’s website on Thursday, however, it isn’t for his lack of belief in his champion.
“The belt can’t be in limbo for this long. I’ve said since the beginning that I believe in Sean Sherk, but we have to support the athletic commission in whatever decision they make. As soon as Sean Sherk can put all of this behind him, he can get right back into the Octagon, and he will be given an immediate shot at the lightweight championship.”