by Ariel Shnerer, FOXSports.com

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Sherk (32-3-1) trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy along with Brock Lesnar and Nick Thompson. The 5'6" juggernaut, appropriately nicknamed "The Muscle Shark," dropped the lightweight title to B.J. Penn at UFC 84 after returning from a six-month suspension administered by the California State Athletic Commission.

Sherk, widely acknowledged as one of the finest conditioned athletes in the sport, had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs following a unanimous decision victory over Hermes Franca at UFC 73: Stacked last July. Although Sherk denies the allegations to this day, the suspension was stayed and Sherk was stripped of his lightweight title.

The Minneapolis-native won back to back decisions against Kenny Florian and Nick Diaz leading into the title fight against Franca. In addition, the wrestling standout holds notable wins over Karo Parisyan (twice), Tiki Ghosn and Manny Gamburyan.

Prior to dropping the gold in May, Sherk's only losses were against top-ranked welterweights Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre.

In his return bout against Penn, Sherk was unable to take the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion to the ground and was dominated in a standup war due to Penn's superior reach. Sherk was finished in the second round following a running knee and a wave of strikes.

If Sherk wants a rematch against Penn, he will need to be in top form for the October meeting with Tyson Griffin.

Also a wrestling specialist, Griffin is the only man to defeat — let alone finish — current WEC featherweight titleholder Urijah Faber. Griffin won the bout at Gladiator Challenge 42: Summer Slam in 2005 before making his debut in the UFC just over a year later.

Griffin (12-1) has lost only once in his career — a bout against Frankie Edgar at UFC 67: All or Nothing last February. Since the unanimous decision setback against Edgar, Griffin has racked up four wins in a row over the 155-pounders that the UFC put in his way. His winning streak consists of victories over Clay Guida, Thiago Tavares, Gleison Tibau and, most recently, Marcus Aurelio.

On the same card as Sherk vs. Griffin, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will look to run right through another test in French-Canadian power puncher Patrick Cote.

A welterweight matchup between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves is also rumored, as are lightweight tilts pitting Melvin Guillard against Spencer Fisher and Gleison Tibau against Hermes Franca.