UFC 119: Fight of the Night Evan Dunham vs Sean Sherk

If you were at a family gathering, friend’s party or any place else that prevented you from watching UFC 119, you missed an action packed and very exciting fight between Evan Dunham and Sean Shrek.  The bout easily won Fight of the Night as Sean Sherk (34-4-1) won the fight over Evan Duham (11-1) and broke his perfect record via Split Decision that stirred controversy in the crowd. 

Even though Sherk had not been in the octagon for 14 months and Dunham recently fought at UFC 115, Sherk still could not be undermined given his vast experience.  This was probably the toughest fight in Dunham’s career so far.  Dunham won the crowd over with multiple sub attempts and fighting through a nasty cut he received by Sherk when he delivered an elbow in the first round.  Dunham was a little slow to start but once he got going, he got through a very though fight against an excellent fighter proving himself to the fans.  

The first round began with the fighters feeling each other out, then Sherk took Dunham down to end up in a guillotine choke, during which his face could be seen turning red.  Sherk escaped and delivered some ground and pound but Dunham was able to get back up. Sherk took him down again and had him in a front headlock when Dunham tried to get back up again he was able get Sherk in another guillotine.  Sherk got out again and delivered an elbow to Dunham, which caused a deep cut and enough bleeding to have the ref stop the fight.  The fight was allowed to continue and the two finished the round on their feet.

During the second round Dunham cut continued to pour blood on his face and on Sherk’s back but he did a good job ignoring it.  Dunham tried for and got another guillotine but Sherk got out of it again, displaying excellent sub defense.  The fighters were against the cage for some time with Dunham’s back to it.  Dunham looked for another choke but Sherk avoided it as well and the two separated and did some punching.  Dunham was able to deliver a kick to Sherk’s face and deliver some more shots as the round ended.

As round three started, Dunham delivered some punches and made Sherk stagger.  Sherk grappled him to the cage in response and they stayed there for some time. Sherk was able to get Dunham down but he got right back up.  The fighters broke apart after the ref separated and Dunham went back to punching Sherk.  It seemed Dunham was able to deliver more accurate punches and Sherk missed more of his. They went to the fence and grappled after Sherk pushed Dunham there.  There was another guillotine attempt by Dunham, which he followed with a knee to the face.  At the end of this round Dunham was punishing Sherk with knees, hands and kicks.  Sherk was visibly staggering and somehow managed to stay upright until the end of the round.

The fight went to the judges and resulted in a split decision giving the win to Sherk.  The judge scores were Caldwell: 29-28 Dunham; Peoples: 29-28 Sherk; and Trowbridge: 29-28 Sherk. The crowd was very unhappy about the decision and loud booing could be heard while Joe Rogan interviewed the fighters afterwards.

Tags: Evan Dunham, Judges, MMA, Results, Sean Sherk, split decision, UFC, UFC 119

Category: MMA, UFC