Sherk may still take legal action against California

The ongoing battle between former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and the state of California may not be down for the count just yet as the Minnesota

The ongoing battle between former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and the state of California may not be down for the count just yet as the Minnesota native confirmed his focus for now is on B.J. Penn, but he may revisit legal action at some point down the road.

"Right now, basically, I was cleared to fight, had a date in mind, had a goal in mind and so I just wanted to first off get this fight out of the way and get my career back on track," said Sherk during a recent appearance on MMAWeekly Radio. "And there's no statute of limitations as far as how long I have to do this thing by, so I'm still talking to my lawyer. We're still working some stuff out, and after this fight, maybe that's something that we can go back to."

During the interview, Sherk reaffirmed his previous statements about never fighting in the state of California again after his treatment during the suspension and subsequent hearings with the state's athletic commission.

"I've got no desire to fight in California," Sherk stated. "The UFC's fighting all over the country now. They're coming here to Minneapolis in a few months, so I've just got no desire to fight in California now. I don't like the way I was treated and fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, right?"

While the former champ admits he doesn't know all of the individual grievances other promotions have with California, he believes things will have to change in the future or the state may lose some MMA business.

"I think they really need to handle things a little better and if they don't, I think the shows are going to go elsewhere," he commented. "This sport is so big now, you don't need to fight in California anymore. It was something they needed to do at one point in time, where as now I think they can pretty much sell out wherever they go. It's not a necessity anymore."

The situation will continue to simmer on the back burner until Sherk completes his comeback at UFC 84 on May 24 against Penn in Las Vegas.