Nevada chief Kizer "disappointed" with St-Pierre being "slippery"

An assistant for Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion B.J. Penn told me Monday the fighter intends to file an official complaint to the Nevada State Athletic Commission because Saturday opponent Georges St-Pierre allegedly had his back greased too excessively with a Vaseline-like substance at their Saturday night double-title fight in Las Vegas.

St-Pierre retained his welterweight belt with a dominant performance against Penn, keeping him on the ground for the majority of the fight and delivering dozens of fists and elbows before Penn failed to answer the fifth-round bell.

The Penn assistant, in Hawaii, said Penn complained to a Nevada inspector about the slippery St-Pierre early in the fight.

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Keith Kizer told me tonight that he and another inspector on St-Pierre's side of the octagon thought the greasy substance "looked excessive" and was ordered to be wiped off. St-Pierre's lead trainer Greg Jackson was seen wiping some of the substance on St-Pierre's back between rounds, said Kizer, who added he'd rely on videotape evidence should a complaint be filed.

A UFC spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue.

Kizer said there was no complaint on his desk when he left the office at 3:30 today, but if sees one in the morning, he'll review the situation and proceed.

"Any licensee who violates rules is subject to discipline including a fine or suspension," Kizer said. "I gave [St-Pierre's corner] a stern talking to about how this should not be happening at this level and that their victory could be tainted in the court of public opinion."

St-Pierre's camp was not immediately available for comment.

-- Lance Pugmire 

Photo: B.J. Penn and Georges St-Pierre during Saturday's fight. Credit: Eric Jamison / Associated Press AP

Comments

[Race]

I am a huge GSP fan and when I heard of this vaseline thing I went back and watched the fight again. Sure enough in between rounds 1&2 and 2&3 you could see GSP's cornerman rubbing vaseline on his shoulders and his back. What were they thinking? That was very stupid as GSP did not need an advantage in this fight. He clearly dominated Penn. I was so happy when GSP pounded BJ but now I am very dissapointed in GSP and his corner team. That was clearly cheating. Shame on you Georges.

[akalabob]

If the greasing was detected during the fight, GSP should have been disqualified. It is apparent that GSP has done this before, because Penn's corner was forewarned by Matt Serra about this, and early in the fight Penn was complaining about GSP being "slippery"

GSP should have his purse for this fight withheld at least until the investigation is complete.

It is my opinion that Penn would have lost even without the cheating, but it is quite obvious that GSP cheated. This is very bad for the sport.

[Harland Perry]

This is not good at all. I am a jiu jitsu practioner and I know how significant this is because you will not be able to apply your locks (triangle, arm bar, shoulder lock, etc). It affects your ability to effectively use your guard to control the posture of your opponent. It makes you work extra hard just to hang on and it tires your legs very quickly. This is disgraceful and shows a bit of uncertainty by the GSP camp. I am sure GSP knew this was going on and by allowing this to happen raises questions of his integrity and honesty that a true champion suppose to have. This is not the first complaint from a GSP opponent about his greased up upper body. If this wasn't a big deal, GSP wouldn't have thought he needed to do that to win and it wouldn't be illegal, but it is. I am a dissappointed fan and hope this kind of stuff is watched more closely by the athletic commisions.

They alreaday fought once and it was close. When fighters are evenly matched, little things like this make a huge difference in the outcome of a fight and progressively worsens as the fight goes on.

[funkywanderer]

Everybody needs to calm down just a bit. I re-watched the entire fight last night and paid special attention to the cornering. In between the first and second rounds, Phil Nurse applies vaseline to his right hand from the back of his left hand. He then uses his right hand to apply the vaseline to Georges face. After applying the vaseline to Georges face, Phil uses both hands to massage Georges temples, trapezius, and chest. He then does an energy centering technique where by he places the palm of his right hand on Georges' chest, and rubs Georges center-back with hthe palm of his left hand. At no time does he apply vaseline to the palm of his left hand directly. At no time does he directly apply vaseline to Georges trapezius or outer lats.

When you watch the second round, and you see BJs legs slipping down Georges back, from high guard, he is unable to gain friction on Georges lats (the outside of his back), not the center of his back where the vaseline was alleged to have been applied.

From the end of the second round onwards, the Nevada State Athletic Commissionaires are right on top of Georges cornermen to assure that no wrong doing occurred.

This is nothing more than sour grapes and making a mountain out of a mole hill.

[Graham]

First, the athletic commission saw it happen. They stated the felt there was too much of a greasy substance on his back. Let us just think about that. Whether it was toweled off, or not...they did it anyway.

The discussion here should not be so much "how did it affect the fight?" It might have affected BJ's guard...who knows for sure. But it likely doesn't change the outcome. BJ lost, GSP won.

The discussion should be that GSP's corner tried to get the stuff on him more than once, and the commission felt it was excessive and even had to tell them not to. The commission is even trying to be very fair, and they stated in a reviewed investigation, they would only rely on video evidence, and not what they saw with their own eyes at ringside. This is a no-brainer...you just don't do it. You don't even try to do it a little. You're playing with fire and it can burn your reputation.

If someone is caught with a cheat sheet during the beginning of a test, sure...the student can always say they never needed it, or they never looked at it even once. Do you think that student is branded anything other than a cheater though?

Personally, I like GSP, and I am hoping the blame goes on his corner if they do find enough evidence. That Greg Jackson joke is a jack@$$ and should be banned and his camp banned from coming near the ring again. I am giving GSp the benefit of the doubt.

[Kyle]

Whoever applied the vasoline should be reprimanded, but I don't think St. Pierre would intentionally cheat. He obviously wouldn't have done it infront of millions of people if he thought it was cheating.

[tommyg]

I like both fighters. St. Pierre is known to be one of the most athletic, hard working fighters in the sport, Penn, one of the most talented. Penn talked a lot before the fight which makes it easier to want to see St. Pierre make him eat his words. I went into this fight disliking Penn for his mouth.

Having said that...

Is it just me or did anyone else notice how Penn's legs kept sliding down St. Pierre's back when he was in the guard (not rubber guard). It caught my eye right away.

Vaseline is detrimental in a ground fight period, worse than the effects of sweat after a couple rounds.

A towel does not take off all of the Vaseline. Try it yourself. Grab your right wrist with your left hand (dry), while squeezing, try to rotate your right wrist. Now, go put some Vaseline on that spot, wipe it off with a towel, now try it, it slips. We haven't even added water to it yet, something St. Pierre does from the start of each fight.

Why did Serra's team warn Penn about the Vaseline and say that St. Pierre was slippery?

Why are many of the other fighters claiming the same? Because he was, in fact, slippery.

Although this is the first time the fans are becoming aware of it, this is not new news to the sport or the other fighters

I don't know if the outcome of the fight would have changed but I strongly believe it would have been a different fight.

There's a reason it's being investigated. I applaud Dana as well as the NSAC for taking it seriously.

I see a rule change coming out of this. No more Vaseline in the hands of cornermen.

I am disappointed in St.Pierre. I was a huge fan until last night. He's a great fighter who doesn't need a Vaseline advantage.

[tom]

Maybe it was the food he ate the night before, he did sweat a lot.

[noone]

They could have chalked St. Pierre up and he still would have beaten the brakes off of BJ Penn.