Injuries are common, so there’s  no surprise that Sherk had to pull out of a fight. But, once you learn that Sherk claims he was injured only after he was schedule to take a pre-fight drug test for the CSAC, it starts to look a little suspicious.

Dave Meltzer has all the details:

Word of the injury got out on the evening of 9/2, a few hours after he was scheduled to take a random drug test by the California State Athletic Commission. He didn’t get on the flight to California and when he no-showed, UFC informed the commission that Sherk was injured and was off the card. Sherk won’t be penalized for missing the scheduled test because he let his license expire in California. Last week, the CSAC informed the UFC about Sherk being picked to be random drug tested and it was agreed he’d come into California on 9/2 since he had to get all his medicals taken care of to get a license since his last license expired.

Sherk, found guilty of taking steroids in the past, will now be facing allegations that he  ducked a drug test and pulled out of a fight to avoid a medical suspension. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if he was acting like Nick Diaz, who pulled a similar stunt and skipped a drug test before his Strikeforce fight against Jay Hieron not long ago, and admitted to taking substances that were deemed illegal by the MMA state athletic commissions. But, that’s not the case at all here as Sherk has always argued his innocence. He even hired Harold Jacobs, the prominent lawyer who has helped other athletes escape lengthier suspensions to help him in the past. During his July 2007 fight against Hermes Franca, traces of Nandrolone, a steroid, were found his system and he was suspended for a year and stripped of his lightweight belt.

So, does Sherk think he’s fooling anyone?

[Dana] White also said they are not going to counter program Strikeforce’s debut of Fedor Emelianenko with a live show and that he has nothing against Strikeforce, that his issues are with Showtime. He didn’t explain why other than say they are losing to HBO in boxing and will lose to someone other than HBO in MMA. He said he’s proven he can show a replay show and beat Showtime. I guess when you are in more than five times as many homes, just having more gross viewers constitutes a win.

It’s good to know that MMA fans will not have to make a choice later this year when Fedor Emelianenko makes his Strikeforce debut against the undefeated Brett ‘The Grim’ Rogers.

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The same has become true of my MMA consumption over the last half year, as this new sport’s media grows and gets a sense of itself and what the boundaries of fandom and journalistic integrity entail. As I have a quota of mentioning in each writing, MMA and Pro Wrestling converge and diverge on a daily basis, as they have since the early 1990s, and really long before (see Inoki, Antonio).

Dave Meltzer, he of the long winded rambling speak (our common bond), signed yesterday with Yahoo Sports for their MMA section. Meltzer, formerly of the LA Times and most recently FOX Sports.com, is the foremost journalist in Pro Wrestling. His newsletter is the bible of that genre, and the bridge between wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts. He’s been defending and explaining his position since 1993.

You might wonder why this is news. Reporters are jumping from place to place these days as people get a sense of who has an in, who is motivated, and who brings quality analysis and presentation. As always, there is a divide, even in the old guard, of how to report stories and what to tell or omit. It’s news because Meltzer’s ideology on the connection of pro wrestling and MMA may seem controversial to the sports minded MMA purist, but also because he brings the goods and has the sources. Meltzer, in the eye of the storm in pro wrestling journalism this summer for what might be his best work ever on the Benoit tragedy and the prospect of Congressional hearings, may become the predominant reporter in Mixed Martial Arts now that he’s at one of the two heavy hitter mainstream outlets (CBS Sportsline being the other one).

The original media of MMA, best represented by Sherdog’s Josh Gross and ex-mag writer Stephen Quadros, have been met with polarizing report cards. Gross has a coarse attitude at times and might be best known for his war of words with UFC head honcho Dana White. His affection for the sport of Baseball often best shines light into his view of what MMA should be: pure sport. He often lacks the vision of entertainment, but also errors on the side of fighter’s rights. Both are a credit and a curse for the magazine style website, but they are seen as a leader and have an affiliation to ESPN (though it’s a stepchild twice removed).

Quadros was a writer, turned announcer, turned everything, with great knowledge of martial arts and the evolution of the fight game. But he’s often been the epitome of the problem with the old (yet still young) media that’s grown on the web, often angering UFC’s front office and delighting upstart promotions. Quadros, like Gross and many other media luminaries, comes across as the fighters buddy and advocate more then a hard news reporter. Certainly this is one of the many shades of gray. These men are not tone deaf. But for all the affection and rose colored glasses viewing PRIDE, it seems to escape many what PRIDE really was: An extension of pro wrestling and entertainment in Japan. After all, sports pages in Japan gave and often still give pro wrestling coverage in the same context as baseball or sumo.

This is where Meltzer and other pro wrestling writers come in. Meltzer covered Pancrase and UFC in 1993 closely. He was very involved as media, and at times a judge, in early UFC. It’s not a total secret he’s had the ear of UFC booker Joe Silva and agent-turned-boss White. And likewise, they’ll talk to Meltzer. He gets interview time and press credentials where Sherdog, a real destination for new and older fans alike, will not. Meltzer was one of the few web and niche newsletter writers allowed in as UFC exploded and press courting became ESPN and USA Today. His coverage has led to crossover coverage from wrestling writers like Wade Keller and later Bryan Alverez. I myself, coming from a wrestling background, rejected Meltzer’s MMA coverage in the late 90s. When I spent my own money finally on a subscription to his Pro Wrestling Observer Newsletter in early 2001, I wasn’t fully sold on this Sakuraba fellow. But if you research, and you have your head in both sports/entertainment industries, you see why MMA isn’t just connected in a historical context to its ill-viewed cousin.

Meltzer’s ascension is not only deserved, but it could shape the way we read and digest thoughts and ideas on MMA. Coverage effects how we all view our MMA. The Sam Caplans’ and Todd Martins’ of the world are excelling because they understand the synergy and goals of business and entertainment as much as true sport. They are equally necessary. And somewhere in between Josh Gross and noted Negative Nancy Zach Arnold (great for community of MMA journalism, but often a malcontent when the sky isn’t falling) there is Dave Meltzer. Well, in between it all is Fight Linker, but that’s commentary.

Meltzer has waited a lifetime for compliments like the one given to him by famous sports writer Frank Deford this past summer. Often the object of disrespect, Meltzer (who writes a giant newsletter or two by himself, did radio shows, and covered ten times what anyone felt was required), was called the best sports journalist in the world by Deford. Here’s hoping he gets to make his mark at Yahoo Sports (he’ll dwarf Kevin Iole in months) and gets to retire from his newsletter. Dave deserves to watch his child grow up and not worry about losing another friend in pro wrestling.

E-mail John Philapavage at johnnyp@mmaopinion.com