Sean Sherk just spent the last hour kicking my butt… In UFC Undisputed 2009. But, he did it the way he should be doing it, by systematically taking me down and grounding me to death (I’m actually very frustrated at this moment but that’s beside the point.) Sean Sherk needs to go back to his takedown heavy game, and his ground and pound game. When he plays to his strength, he is nearly unbeatable.
In all of the fights we have recently watched Sean Sherk lose in, he has had a decidedly active boxing stance in all of them. Against BJ Penn, he seemed gun shy to access the ground, and BJ was more than happy to jab him to death until the knockout blow was delivered. Also, in his fight with Frankie Edgar, he seemed to want to prove his boxing by continuing to strike and not attempting takedowns until very late into the match. This strategy is akin to Kobe Bryant saying, “You know, I can dunk, I can shoot the three, my jumper is crazy, why don’t I work on my low post game and try to make baskets that way.” Sure you’re his low post game might get better, but he’s still not as effective as he could be.
So what’s the major idea here? Stay within your game, bring up the other parts of your game, but integrate it with your current game. Spar with your new tools predominately during sparring, but go back into your main mode when you get into the fight.