Chase Sherman not excited for Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC-Shanghai: He 'fights like a (expletive) girl'

SHANGHAI – Chase Sherman is typically a rather upbeat personality, but when the name of UFC Fight Night 122 opponent Shamil Abdurakhimov pops up, he loses a bit of that twinkle.

Sherman (11-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) will put it bluntly: It’s difficult for him to get overly excited when facing an opponent with Abdurakhimov’s (17-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) style. He wants opposition that will bring the action, and from what he knows of foe going into Saturday’s UFC Fight Pass-streamed heavyweight bout at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, that’s not what he’s getting.

“Am I super excited about the fight? No, I’m not,” Sherman told MMAjunkie. “I’m a fighter who likes to go out there and throw and put on an exciting fight for the fans. I’ll be honest with you: He’s not a very exciting fighter. He kind of fights like a (expletive) girl. He likes to run around and he scores his points. He does what he needs to do to get the win. He’s a good fighter, he’s a very smart fighter. I can’t take that away from him.

“But, from an entertainment aspect, no he’s not. His last fight with (Derrick) Lewis he almost got a point deduction from running. We’ll see how it goes. He’s going to have to fight me.”

Sherman is not all negative, though. He knows there’s some upside to the upcoming fight, the majority of which stems from the fact Abdurakhimov is ranked above him in the heavyweight division. The Russian is also coming off a main-event bout with Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 102 in December, which gives him some additional clout.

Currently, Sherman’s main priority is to ascend the heavyweight rankings as quickly as possible. To do that, he knows he must accept challenging fights, whether he likes the style matchup or not.

“We’re really trying to break into the top 15,” Sherman said. “That’s the bottom line and what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to climb the rankings. This will be three wins in a row. It’s hard to come by three wins in a row in the heavyweight division if you look at the win-streak pattern. Shamil is No. 16, I’m No. 19, so it makes sense.

“I’m coming here to get a ‘W.’ I’m coming here to collect a check and move up the ladder. It’s just a business trip for me. If it’s an exciting fighter or not it doesn’t really matter. That’s all that important is to just keep moving forward.”

Sherman might also be a little bit on edge because of where his fight is located. In recent months “The Vanilla Gorilla” has emerged as one of the most enjoyable Twitter personalities in the sport. His social media following has grown extensively since his UFC debut, but in China, Twitter is nearly inaccessible.

Although the lack of social media makes it a little harder for Sherman to pass the time, he plans on making a triumphant post-fight return to Twitter – hopefully to celebrate a win.

“I didn’t realize that until a couple days before I came over here,” Sherman said. “People were like, ‘Yeah, no Facebook, no Twitter, no social media.’ I was like, ‘What the hell is going on? Why not?’ It is what it is. Twitter will have to wait for me until I get home.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.