The status of the UFC's Lightweight division has been in question since UFC 73: Stacked this past summer.
Then, it was announced that both Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca had tested positive for steriods following their championship bout. Both fighters were issued fines and suspended.
However, a further announcement from Sean Sherk claimed he was going to appeal to the California Athletic Commission about his case.
It appeared that a lot was riding on this appeal for Sherk. Not only would it determine if he would get his case overturned or reduced, it would determine if he would be allowed to hold on to his title or be unceremoniously stripped of it by Dana White.
Well, here we are half a year later, and finally there has been some progress. Following Sherk's appeal being postponed Wednesday until November 13th—because the appropriate documents were not present—Dana White has announced his frustration with the commission for how it has handled the case.
He then went on to announce that Lightweight contenders Joe Stevenson and BJ Penn will fight for an interim lightweight title in January of next year at UFC 80, an event also marked with a rumoured meeting between heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum. The winner of the interim title match will then go on to fight Sherk once his case has been figured out.
BJ Penn comes off an impressive submission victory of his TUF 5 rival, Jens Pulver, while Joe Stevenson comes off a likewise impressive decision victory over Kurt Pelligrino at UFC 74.
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