At UFC 64, Sean Sherk became the new Lightweight Champion and the first person to hold the title since Jens Pulver back in 2002. What’s even more impressive about Sherk’s dominating performance against Kenny Florian last Saturday was the fact he fought with a torn right rotator cuff, essentially rendering any striking useless. Apparently some of the pre-fight hype that Sherk could beat Florian with one arm wasn’t too far fetched. Therefore, with no shortage of challengers in the 155 lbs division, it’s worth taking a closer look at who the leading contenders are for the new Champion. With the recent losses suffered by Yves Edwards, Pulver and Florian, we’ll focus on some of the up-and-coming young guns.

Spencer Fisher: With the moniker of “The King”, Fisher no doubt believes he will rule the UFC at some point in his career. Fisher has excellent hands, loves to land jumping knee’s from the clinch and when he’s matched up against other top strikers he seems to have a decisive advantage over them on the ground. The absence of a Lightweight division meant Fisher debuted in the UFC as a Welterweight, where he picked up two impressive victories over Thiago Alves and Aaron Riley. The UFC decided to reinstate the 155 lbs division at UFC 58 and Fisher was invited to compete on the card as a late replacement for Kenny Florian, but he needed to cut 20 lbs in two days. A feat within itself, Fisher made weight and pressed the action against Canadian striker Sam Stout in the 1st round, but as the fight wore on “The King” began to show signs of fatiguing from the weight cutting. Fisher dropped a hard fought split decision to Stout but has followed that up with successive wins over Matt Wiman and Dan Lauzon. Fisher is a dangerous fight for anyone in the division, although he has shown a tendency to be taken down in a few of his fights that could be exploited by Sherk. However, having Matt Hughes as a training partner should help to shore up any weaknesses in that department.   

Melvin Guillard: The most athletic fighter of the entire bunch, Guillard is often compared to a smaller version of Kevin Randleman because of his explosiveness. “The Young Assassin” has lighting fast hands, devastating KO power and seems capable of physically dominating any opponent at 155 lbs. However, if his opponent’s are able to get past Guillard’s hands and take the fight to the ground, that’s where the New Orleans native has struggled. Guillard’s biggest test in the UFC came against Josh Neer as a Welterweight and “The Dentist” believed going into the fight he would be the bigger, stronger fighter and overwhelm the TUF 2 veteran. Not the case, Guillard pushed the pace of the fight and even opened a dangerous cut over Neer’s right eye, but Guillard had a momentary lapse in Neer’s guard and was caught in a fight ending triangle. Guillard has followed that performance up with two wins as a Lightweight, but in his last fight against Gabe Ruediger he was taken down and nearly submitted with a rear naked choke. Similar to Fisher, Guillard is fortunate to have someone in his training camp (Dean Lister) that should help improve his ground game.

Mark Hominick: The former TKO Featherweight Champion pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history after moving up in weight to challenge the reining king of 155 lbs – Yves Edwards. “The Machine” was able to land more effective strikes then Edwards and surprisingly finished off his opponent with a triangle. However, Hominick has had a history of struggling against very good grapplers and his next fight against Shooto star Hatsu Hioki was no different. It was suppose to be a Canadian homecoming for Hominick where he would build on his UFC debut victory, but Hioki crashed the party with a 2nd round submission win and took the TKO belt back to Japan. That performance no doubt weighed heavily on Hominick’s mind when he faced his next challenge inside the Octagon, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel. The Team Tompkins fighter was successful in keeping the majority of the bout standing and surprisingly Gurgel obliged. Yet, in an attempt to avoid being taken down late in the fight, Hominick actually turned his back to Gurgel and sprinted away. “The Machine” still won a unanimous decision, however the UFC has always stressed they’re looking for competitive and exciting fights, not track and field meets. With a 2-0 record in the UFC, Hominick will certainly be brought back again, but he’ll need to ensure he comes prepared to fight no matter where the match ends up.   

Joe Stevenson: Crowned the Welterweight king of season two of “The Ultimate Fighter”, Stevenson was an absolute beast on the show with his wrestling and grappling skills being unmatched. Stevenson came onto the show as one of the most accomplished fighters, as he previously laid claim to the Lightweight title in King of the Cage and the Welterweight belt in Gladiator Challenge. However, “Daddy” ran into some problems against a very tough Josh Neer in his first match after TUF. Stevenson expended a lot of energy going for a 1st round knee bar attempt and that seemed to affect his performance as the match prolonged. Neer survived the submission attempt and once the fight was standing he held a distinct advantage over Stevenson, and picked up a unanimous decision victory. Nevertheless, Stevenson saved his best performance for his toughest test, his Lightweight debut against Yves Edwards at UFC 61. Once again, Stevenson seemed to have trouble with his opponents striking, but he was able to whether the storm and after taking his opponent down he imposed a relentless ground and pound attack to open a fight ending cut on Edwards. 

On the Cusp: Tyson Griffin, Jorge Gurgel, Joe Lauzon