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Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

Does the UFC now have their own version of the “Akiyama” scandal?

By Zach Arnold | February 1, 2009

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Update: MMA Weekly has Greg Jackson’s unique take on the situation. Steve Cofield responds. The ‘NSAC official’ who went after GSP’s cornerman? Keith Kizer himself.

For those of you who don’t follow the Japanese MMA scene, it was approximately two years ago when Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama faced the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba on a K-1-promoted event on New Year’s Eve called Dynamite. Akiyama beat Sakuraba in the fight, but Sakuraba was screaming to the referee throughout the match that Akiyama had some sort of substance on him that made it hard to hold onto him. Eventually, it was revealed that Akiyama had been using skin lotion and that the substance made him slippery. He was promptly suspended by K-1.

Now, UFC finds itself in a developing controversy regarding the Georges St. Pierre/BJ Penn mega-fight that took place on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Cage Potato reports that BJ Penn’s camp has filed a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, claiming that a cornerman for St. Pierre was rubbing vaseline on his back in-between rounds.

If the NSAC agrees that indeed rules were violated, it will immediately taint St. Pierre’s dominant win over Penn. I realize and you realize that St. Pierre put on a dominant performance, but Penn’s camp has a perfectly legitimate gripe here if the accusations of vaseline usage (in this manner) are true. While Dana White tried to soften the blow of the allegations about possible illegal vaseline usage on St. Pierre, the fact that White is trying to deflect all the heat for the incident on a cornerman and not on St. Pierre is unacceptable.

As I laid out recently in a new article, the heat is on Keith Kizer and the NSAC. First, questions about Antonio Margarito (stemming from the California State Athletic Commission’s investigation into him). Second, questions promptly raised by Ivan Trembow regarding the NSAC not performing out-of-competition drug testing for the last two month’s worth of MMA shows. And now, you can add this brand new complaint filed by Penn’s camp against St. Pierre.

Here is St. Pierre’s side of the story.

Fightlinker, as usual, strikes the right tone.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 101 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

101 Responses to “Does the UFC now have their own version of the “Akiyama” scandal?”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Penn was never close to a submission. And GSP never looked slippery. He was just the better fighter. Penn couldn’t even prevent guard passes from happening all the time. And the body contact from those positions had nothing to do with the areas in question.

    As others have said, vasoline should not be used in MMA. It is unfair to the grapplers, and probably one of the reasons why MMA in Japan can look different.

    • bejeez says:

      Clearly you didn’t see BJ’s legs slippin like a greased up pig on a slip and slide all over GSP’s back. The outcome still might have been the same as GSP and BJ were prolly equal in most aspects but BJ’s stand up was way better. BJ’s submissions are dirty and his rubber guard couldn’t work as you could see. You can’t say GSP was the better fighter because he took away BJ’s ground/submission game. Penn couldn’t prevent the guard passes because for the same reason why Penn couldn’t hold on to submissions because he was greased man. Think bout what you write before you type bro. Even GSP admits to the vaseline givin him an advantage

  2. Dave says:

    lol, vaseline doesn’t just wipe off from a towel. Seriously, even if somebody from the commission did wipe it off with a towel, it is far too greasy for it to actually come off. Sure, you’ll get any globs, but if anything you are just spreading it out across the body.

    BJ does have a somewhat legitimate claim as after the greasing occurred he could not keep GSP in his guard whatsoever. While GSP’s wrestling is really good and he is incredibly strong, there could be an argument that he was too slippery for Penn to keep a hold of.

  3. MMA Game says:

    This is all completely pathetic. If BJ wants to get thoroughly dominated again then let him go for it. FFS.

  4. Ivan Trembow says:

    Putting vaseline on a fighter’s face, as long as it’s not deemed excessive = legal

    Putting vaseline on a fighter’s back = illegal

    To anyone who knows so little that they think it’s an attempt to “pick on the UFC” for me to even talk about this, you guys must not have been around for the Slice/Petruzelli scandal. Not that the two are comparable, but that was a Zuffa competitor and I was all over that, writing about it constantly on this very web site’s comments section in terms much more harsh than anything I’ve written about the vaseline.

    As for the cornerman’s potential punishment, what I actually said was, “A cornerman could be banned for life.” Key word: COULD. And if you’re going to say that he CAN’T be, then you’re saying that there’s a zero percent chance of that happening.

    What I have not said is that I believe the vaseline changed the outcome of the fight. In fact, I have repeatedly said just the opposite, that I believe it did not change the outcome of the fight. But did it happen? From all the video evidence (as previously described in great detail by me and many others), it looks like it did, but I’m not one of the NSAC inspectors who was right there.

  5. Ivan Trembow says:

    http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=8101

    “It seems that at some point between the first and second rounds, a St. Pierre cornerman allegedly applied Vaseline to St. Pierre’s back, an infraction of the rules.

    St. Pierre was clearly wiped down with towels in between rounds two and three, and again between rounds three and four, by a commission official.”

  6. mikeyg says:

    This is dumb…all the trainer was doing was an old relaxation technique done by pressing in the right spots on the chest and back, no rubbing on the back was done at all….stop making excuses. Go look it up, I believe its an old chinese or japanese relaxation method…..that is all. He lost to a better fighter, get over it.

  7. Ivan Trembow says:

    “no rubbing on the back was done at all”

    People can have differences of opinions about certain things, but then there are just plain old factual errors.

    The statement quoted above is a factual error. If you look at the tape in between Rounds 1 and 2, you can see the cornerman rubbing GSP’s back clear as day. There is no doubt or ambiguity about that.

  8. Zach Arnold says:

    For those of you launching ad hominem attacks against individual commenters or general attacks by calling this “Sherdog-esque,” let’s be very clear here on a few things:

    1) A complaint was filed. That is a fact.

    2) Dana White did admit that something occurred.

    3) Jonathan Snowden and other people at the show saw the incident occur with the NSAC official reprimanding the cornerman.

    Whatever side you come on as far as this issue is concerned, at least acknowledge what did take place. You can disagree or agree as to whether or not it had an effect on the fight, but to ignore the story at hand and dismiss it is foolish.

    I am disappointed in the tone of some of the commenters here. I had no trouble writing glowing praise for St. Pierre after the fight (as seen with my article at MMA Memories), and I had no trouble understanding Penn’s complaint when that news broke as well. It is possible to understand both sides of an issue and not flame away at others.

  9. Brandt says:

    You can find BJ Penn’s trainers doing the same thing to him during the Hughes fight in an animated GIF on the web. Happens all the time in MMA.

  10. Jeremy says:

    The question is:
    Was the cornerman simply careless or was he trying to give GSP an advantage?

    That is what needs to be determined.

    Reading online, there is a portion that seems to think that every second he rubbed GSP, he was applying vasoline to GSP’s body. I have read some reports that the guy kept doing it after being yelled at.

    I have some questions and honestly want to hear what folks think:

    If enough Vasoine was applied to GSP’s body to give him an advantage, would the vasoline not spread to Penn as well? If so, wouldn’t it make it harder for GSP to take Penn down, or hold him in place?

    Is the allegation that it happened once? Or that the cornerman did it repeatedly?

    Is it that they chewed him out after the first round, then stepped up to towel GSP off later after confiring?

  11. Ivan Trembow says:

    “You can find BJ Penn’s trainers doing the same thing to him during the Hughes fight in an animated GIF on the web. Happens all the time in MMA.”

    Steroid use happens all the time in MMA as well. Something happening all the time doesn’t make it right or mean that people shouldn’t be punished when caught.

    “Is the allegation that it happened once? Or that the cornerman did it repeatedly?”

    I don’t know what the allegation from the Penn camp is, I only know what the video evidence conclusively shows if you look at the tape.

    And that is:

    Before Round 2: GSP’s cornerman rubbing GSP’s back immediately after he was just rubbing GSP’s face with vaseline

    Before Round 3: An NSAC inspector being thrown a towel at the last second and giving GSP a very brief rub on the back in the seconds immediately before the start of Round 3

    Before Round 4: GSP’s back getting a much more thorough rubdown with towels from both his cornerman and from NSAC inspectors

    As I said near the beginning of this thread, the director kept cutting away, and I wish they would have aired the full extent of what actually happened, whatever that may or may not have been. How much vaseline was applied, who applied it, what the commission did, etc.

    They have cameras in both corners in between every round, but they decided not to show the incident(s) during the fight or after the fight on the PPV broadcast.

  12. Jeremy says:

    Ok, it is being said it happened just between rounds one and two.

    That is the problem at hand.

    Nobody, outside of net folk, are suggesting that it happened any other time.

    Regarding what we saw:

    I don’t think anyone knew what was going on. It did not occur to them to show it.

    Where there is too much vasoline on a fighters face, it is wiped off.

    Sometimes they show it being wiped off and sometimes they don’t.

    Correction: The SAC is saying it happened between round one and two.

    Apparently Rudy V is saying “For their camp to be busted doing something bad like that, to be busted doing it and then to keep doing it after the referee had warned them.”

    I wish he would have said when else it happened. He is accusing them of doing it again. When?

    Another interesting bit:
    “His Penn’s) legs slid right off because of the grease on his head and back”

    So then if the vasoline had only been applied to the head, which is legal, it still would have caused a problem?

  13. Big Bill Bob says:

    BJ was never close to a submission, but he also couldn’t hold George in a rubber guard or high guard without his leg slipping down. Total BS that seperatist is obviously a cheater and needs to get Serra’d again soon hopefully by Thiago. And this is coming from a western Canadian. GSP is a cheater and quitter, and will be forced to tap once again after Alves is through.

  14. Fan Futbol says:

    Zach,

    I wrote that this Sherdog-esque. By that I meant this “controversy” is much ado about nothing. I stand by that assessment.

    Reporting the facts is journalism; speculating about this being as important as flawed steroid testing is an opinion — one with which I vigorously disagree. I did not mean to suggest you should not have reported BJ’s complaint, the NSAC intervention, or Dana White’s comments. Those are facts.

    But I have seen no evidence Phil Nurse’s use of the same hands that applied some undetermined amount of Vaseline to GSP’s face somehow resulted in a fight-altering amount of Vaseline being applied to GSP’s back in the first instance, or that the NSAC’s towel intervention was insufficient to resolve any problem. Accordingly, I think BJ’s complaint has no merit and that there is no real controversy. That’s my opinion. It’s not an inappropriate “attack.”

    FF

  15. EJ says:

    I really have to say I am amazed that anyone is actually taking this seriously, it sounds even more ridiculous after a good night’s sleep than it did even yesterday.

    Watching the fight again it’s even more obvious at the complete and total domination and for anyone to claim otherwise. Makes me think that they are either delusional or lost a ton of money betting on BJ.

    This really is the biggest non-issue i’ve ever heard of coming off a huge one sided beating. I hope that the NSAC sometime this week smacks this down hard because BJ needs another loss are this pathetic move.

  16. Ivan Trembow says:

    “Watching the fight again it’s even more obvious at the complete and total domination and for anyone to claim otherwise. Makes me think that they are either delusional or lost a ton of money betting on BJ.”

    I think you are discussing a completely different issue here. Did GSP have complete and total domination over Penn? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who has said otherwise. I don’t think anyone is questioning that.

    Even on the issue of, “Would St. Pierre have won anyway?” I have said that I think he would have won anyway, and I’d guess that about 99% of the comments that I’ve read online would agree with that.

    Again, that has nothing to do with whether or not something improper happened. That is a completely different question, one to which none of us know the answer for sure, but it would certainly seem to be greater than a 0% or 1% chance.

    Okay, after reading the article by Steve Cofield of all people, we know have confirmation that there were vaseline-rubbing incidents on two separate occasions.

    One of them was after Round 1, and one of them was after Round 2.

    After Round 1: As I previously said, anyone who looks at the tape can see video evidence of it, and someone put it up on YouTube now as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKuJSQJOiwM

    After Round 2: This one did not air on the PPV, but it is confirmed because Keith Kizer told Steve Cofield that he saw it:

    “”The Commission” was actually NSAC executive director Keith Kizer. He bolted into the cage when he saw Nurse doing the same thing between the second and third rounds. Cage Writer spoke with Kizer after the fight and he was still steaming, saying that the rubbing of the back with Vaseline was completely inappropriate. But he was unsure if it had been done between the first and second.”

    While Kizer was unsure if it also happened between the first and second rounds, that’s probably because as of shortly after the fight he wouldn’t have had time yet to watch the footage. Anyone who taped the event or who can click on YouTube can see that it did happen between Rounds 1 and 2 as well.

  17. spacedog says:

    MAn, I still say it looked like a standard issue relaxation methods used by body workers and sports trainers the world over. The rubbing of his back and chest looked like he was centering GSP, but whatever. I doubt it was an intentional attempt at subtle cheating.

  18. EJ says:

    If the vaseline didn’t affect the outcome then why is this worth spending a full day talking about?.

    To me you can’t have it both ways either you think GSP cheated and the fight should be ruled a no contest or GSP didn’t cheat and BJ is grasping at straws because he’s a sore loser.

    Again what is the argument here from the Penn side? he was completely and utterly dominated from start to finish. To claim that some vaseline on the back of GSP affected the outcome is ridiculous specially after a second viewing. The NSAC needs to come out and end this bs because it’s gotten way too much merit when it deserves none.

  19. Zach Arnold says:

    Again what is the argument here from the Penn side? he was completely and utterly dominated from start to finish. To claim that some vaseline on the back of GSP affected the outcome is ridiculous specially after a second viewing. The NSAC needs to come out and end this bs because it’s gotten way too much merit when it deserves none.

    If Akiyama hadn’t used skin lotion, would he still have beaten Sakuraba at the Osaka Dome? Probably.

    The argument isn’t necessarily that St. Pierre isn’t better than Penn — it’s that the usage of the vaseline provided an unfair competitive advantage. It doesn’t mean St. Pierre needed it at all to win, but clearly something did happen. To what extent? Beats me.

    Do I think Kizer will punish any parties involved? No. But that’s my personal opinion, and my personal opinion is that he’s more interested in PR than action.

    Go back to a few years ago with BALCO and steroid usage. Some great athletes were accused by the Federal Government of using performance-enhancers. It didn’t take away from the fact that they were great athletes, but they got caught trying to gain what was considered to be an unfair competitive advantage. Now, you can certainly argue the issue of ‘intent’ in regards to St. Pierre as to whether or not he understood the nature of the vaseline usage, but to deny that the usage of vaseline in that manner couldn’t provide an unfair competitive advantage is complete intellectual dishonesty.

  20. 45 Huddle says:

    For the people who think GSP’s corner did something wrong…. What do you think should happen? No contest? Fine? Rematch?

    Zach…. The Akiyama incident was completely different. He greased before the fight. He did so on the part of his body that was most vulnerable due to Sakuraba’s low single. And Sakuraba was complaining during the fight.

    With GSP…. There is still no proof that any amounts of vasoline were still on his hands. There was no motivation to put it on because GSP won the first round. It was also done in front of cameras, making even the thought of doing it pointless.

    This is a non issue that will be a dead story in 2 or 3 more days.

  21. The Gaijin says:

    Unless the guy applying vaseline to his face went and washed his hands thoroughly and towelled them off, there was still vaseline on his hands.

    I’m waiting for the one day that 45 Huddle will remove the defensive shell to admit once and a while that something “bad” happenend within the 4 walls of Zuffa.

    Your wilfully blindness and blatant ignorance of outright concrete facts is hysterical.

  22. 45 Huddle says:

    Don’t you mean 8 walls of Zuffa?

    Hmmmm…. I’ve been vocal about Fitch being on the undercard and Okami’s lack of title shot so far.

    This isn’t a Zuffa issue. This is a bunch of BJ fans getting upset because he was beaten down, and now they are looking for any way to find an excuse.

    “Unless the guy applying vaseline to his face went and washed his hands thoroughly and towelled them off, there was still vaseline on his hands.”

    If this is the case, then vaseline needs to be banned in general. It has already been discussed that the vaseline from the face will get on parts of the body and make the fights more slippery. If anything, that is worse then a cornerman who likely has no globs left on his fingers massaging his fighter between rounds.

  23. Grape Knee High says:

    I don’t see how this is NOT a big deal. While I don’t think that it changed the outcome of the fight, nor do I think the outcome should be changed to NC, I do think that it should be discussed so that it doesn’t happen again.

    Personally, I don’t buy the “it was a mistake” defense. Any idiot with vaseline on his hands KNOWS he has vaseline on his hands.

  24. 45 Huddle says:

    “Personally, I don’t buy the “it was a mistake” defense. Any idiot with vaseline on his hands KNOWS he has vaseline on his hands.”

    EXACTLY!! And that is why I don’t think there was any material vaseline left on his hands by the time he even started to touch the temples.

  25. Jonathan Snowden says:

    I saw Kizer run into the cage after the second round. If there was a previous incident, I didn’t see it. Kizer was obviously furious. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

  26. Fan Futbol says:

    Here is the post round one “greasing” video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKuJSQJOiwM&eurl=http://www.fightlinker.com/gsp-corner-video-from-the-event.mma

    Now — which of you are claiming that this video is evidence of “excessive” (the exact word in the regulations) greasing the rules do not permit? Because it occurred to me that maybe we’re talking about different things…I don’t see this video as evidence of a material rules violation. It’s not clear any vaseline, let alone an excessive amount, made it onto GSP’s back. But maybe there is additional info/footage I’m not privy to.

    Also, I don’t think this is a pro-Zuffa/anti-Zuffa issue. Seems to me the UFC is more likely to benefit from controversy here, b/c then they could promote a third fight.

    FF

  27. Ultimo Santa says:

    45 is dead-on (post 70). There is nothing to add to that because this should be a non-issue, and the Akiyama situation *is* completely different.

    Big Bill Bob, your analysis was incredible. Very mature, and above all, very accurate (insert sarcastic, eye-rolling emoticon here)

    Anyone who calls GSP a ‘separatist’ is a complete r3tard. Yes, he’s from Quebec. No, not ALL Quebecers are Canadian flag burning maniacs.

    It’s like randomly saying someone from Alaska is an unpatriotic successionist.

  28. Dave says:

    “It’s like randomly saying someone from Alaska is an unpatriotic successionist.”

    We only wish they were.

  29. Grape Knee High says:

    You guys who are blindly defending GSP are entirely missing the point.

    This is not about redoing the fight, or overturning the stoppage or making excuses for BJ’s loss.

    This is about expunging the sport of any potential improprieties, regardless of whether it may or may not have had a direct impact on the course of fight (and I think most would agree in this case that it did not alter the outcome).

  30. Jeremy says:

    According to Josh Gross, Penn and co have decided against filing a complaint.

  31. Jeremy says:

    Correction: Penn and co have decided against filing a complaint at this time.

  32. Joseph says:

    Penn, Serra, Sherk, and Mayhem All Accused GSP of Greasing?

    http://www.fightlinker.com/jason-miller-claims-gsp-greased-against-him-too.mma

  33. Steve4192 says:

    Post #68 — “If the vaseline didn’t affect the outcome then why is this worth spending a full day talking about?. ”

    Using that logic, why does anyone give a damn about Sean Sherk using steroids in the Hermes Franca fight? Sherk would have whooped him with or without the steroids, so why does anyone care if Sean was juicing?

    The answer it … because it is illegal. Whether it impacted the fight is not the issue. It is still cheating regardless of the outcome.

  34. mattio says:

    St. Pierre and his corner-men should be watched like a hawk during his next fight. And that should include a pre-fight examination for unnatural lubrication of his body. Heck, all the fighter’s out of Jackson’s camp should be subjected to this until it’s been proven they have given up the grease.

  35. Ivan Trembow says:

    For what it’s worth, this was on the Observer web site by Dave Meltzer, notable mostly because it’s one of the only places that Keith Kizer has commented:

    “–An update on the Vaseline scandal involving Georges St. Pierre and his corner from Saturday night’s match. As of press time, B.J. Penn’s camp had not filed a complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. According to Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, what happened was one of the commission inspectors saw Phil Nurse, as he rubbed Vaseline on St. Pierre’s back after the first round, touch his back without wiping the Vaseline off. Several commissioners were aware as the second round went on, and were watching closely after the second round, where they saw a person they identified as Greg Jackson, do the same thing. If was between rounds two and three that the commotion took place with the commission reacting immediately and they wiped off St. Pierre’s back. They also wiped off St. Pierre’s back again after round three. Penn himself told an inspector on his side of the ring after round two that he thought St. Pierre was greased. Kizer said both Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White after the match and questioned whether Nurse or Jackson should ever be allowed to corner again. White, after the show, said that he thought the guy who did it, without mentioning any names, should never be allowed to corner again. Kizer said it was not gobs of Vaseline on St. Pierre’s back, but the back was touched after the Vaseline was rubbed on his face, and before the hands were wiped clean with a towel.”

  36. Joseph says:

    Thanks Ivan,

    Any news about Sherk, Serra, Mayhem also accusing GSP of greasing in the past?

  37. Jeremy says:

    “what happened was one of the commission inspectors saw Phil Nurse, as he rubbed Vaseline on St. Pierre’s back after the first round, touch his back without wiping the Vaseline off.”

    I am guessing this is supposed to read rubbed vaseline on St. Pierre’s back after the firth round, touch his back…otherwise the sentence does not make sense.

  38. Jeremy says:

    The interesting thing about Miller is he reposted an old piece he wrote that talked about an incident, but did not name names.

    Unless I have missed it, he has never mentioned GSP by name.

    It seems clear he was referring to GSP, but won’t say him by name.

    The article said GSP’s neck was greasy.

  39. JaredJ says:

    mattio Says:

    “St. Pierre and his corner-men should be watched like a hawk during his next fight.”

    Last time I checked, all fighters are watched like hawks… Fighters are checked prior to entering the ring by t a commission official and each fighter and his corner are directly observed by at least one official between each round.

  40. Fluyid says:

    If you have ever seen a cornerman spraying a mist on his fighter between rounds, be wary…. it’s often a mixture of water and Johnson’s Baby Oil.

    I know of one guy who did this during a UFC fight three and a half years ago (or so). He lost the fight, but I’m absolutely certain that he got sprayed between rounds with this mix.

    I guess my point here is that commissions aren’t always on top of these things, just like with Margarito and the handwraps.

  41. The Gaijin says:

    “If this is the case, then vaseline needs to be banned in general. It has already been discussed that the vaseline from the face will get on parts of the body and make the fights more slippery. If anything, that is worse then a cornerman who likely has no globs left on his fingers massaging his fighter between rounds.”

    Comparing “incidental contact” between fighters and directly “rubbing on/applying” vaseline are so far apart it’s not even funny. The fact that you continue to attempt to forward it as a legitimate argument is idiotic.

  42. EJ says:

    “Using that logic, why does anyone give a damn about Sean Sherk using steroids in the Hermes Franca fight? Sherk would have whooped him with or without the steroids, so why does anyone care if Sean was juicing?

    The answer it … because it is illegal. Whether it impacted the fight is not the issue. It is still cheating regardless of the outcome.”

    Horrible argument, forgetting first off that the case against Sherk was a joke and the CSAC has been exposed because of it. Also forgetting the fact that both Hermes and Sherk tested positive for steroids after the fact you’re argument is simply silly.

    Using steroids is illegal and has a track record of getting guys suspended and overturning fights. The idea that some vaseline on GSP’s back equals doing steroids just shows how desperate BJ Penn fans are to grasp at anything to justify his complete destruction by GSP.

  43. samscaff says:

    While I agree that steroid use and incidental/accidental greasing are not the same at all….in no way was the CSAC “exposed” or Sean Sherk exonerated.

    Sean Sherk lost his case with the CSAC….

    As far as anyone should be concerned, he is a convicted roider. He hasnt even come close to proving otherwise.

    There are plenty of guys out there who never tested positive. Its not that hard.

  44. smoogy says:

    Another imaginary scandal cooked up by Zach Arnold and Ivan Trembow! Curse you fiends!

  45. Ivan Trembow says:

    The triumph of the Sherk case for his legal team was spreading enough misinformation and getting enough people to actually believe it that many people, still to this day, think he was somehow screwed, either because they don’t know the facts of the case or they only know Sherk’s illogical facts.

    As Sherk’s attorney Howard Jacobs learns every time he tries it, it is NOT a valid defense to say that a fighter had a banned substance in their body because it was in a supplement that they took. Even if true (and they didn’t come close to proving that it was true), that would still NOT make him innocent or less deserving of punishment. Fighters are responsible for what they put in their body, as Jacobs finds out every time he tries and fails to successfully use the ole’ standby supplement defense.

    Also, Sherk’s argument about the drug testing equipment being contaminated is a joke. It must be a magical coincidence that Sherk’s “A sample” contained the same steroid and the same amoutn of it as his “B sample,” which was tested weeks afer his A sample was tested.

    It is confirmed again by Keith Kizer, not just in the Cofield story but also in MMAWeekly and Sherdog stories, that there were two incidents.

    The first one you can see clear as day if you look at the tape between Rounds 1 and 2.

    The second time that the cornerman rubbed vaseline on GSP’s back, it was between Rounds 2 and 3, and and this one was not shown during the PPV but Kizer said that this one he witnessed himself with his own eyes.

    Here’s more on this “non-story that Zach and I made up” from MMAWeekly, with quotes from the NSAC’s Keith Kizer:

    “Watching the pay-per-view, Nurse is clearly seen on camera applying Vaseline to the face of St. Pierre following round one. It is difficult to tell the amount of residual Vaseline on his hands, but he does clearly rub St. Pierre’s shoulders and then reach around to touch his upper back. The extent to which such actions affected the actual in-ring action are unclear, but what is clear is that such action was a violation Nevada’s regulations.

    “They didn’t take a big glob and throw it on his back. After putting Vaseline on (St. Pierre’s) face, he put his hands on his body. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but it was improper,” Kizer continued.

    And from the Sherdog article:

    Kizer said: “After the second round, we observed Mr. Jackson putting Vaseline on Mr. St. Pierre’s face and then putting his hand on his back.” …

    “I told them I was disappointed and that they may have tainted Mr. St. Pierre’s victory…Whether it was intentional or not, I don’t know. It was improper.”

  46. mikeyg says:

    For the boob who said something about a mix of water and baby oil….
    News flash**** water and oil don’t mix, and it has a very distinct smell and feel, nothing like vaseline residue.

    If that were to happen it would be easily recognized, nevermind that whoever would do that would be at risk also…ever get something like baby oil in your eyes, shit even sweat stings, imagine getting oil in your eyes…

    This whole thing is rediculous….its put on their faces at the beginning of the fight by the cutmen, and in between rounds, how is it not bound to get over other things….and sweat itself would deteriorate and dissepate the little residue that is left behind.

  47. Kris says:

    Thanks for the link Zach!

  48. Fluyid says:

    “For the boob who said something about a mix of water and baby oil….
    News flash**** water and oil don’t mix, and it has a very distinct smell and feel, nothing like vaseline residue.

    If that were to happen it would be easily recognized, nevermind that whoever would do that would be at risk also…ever get something like baby oil in your eyes, shit even sweat stings, imagine getting oil in your eyes…”

    LOL

    I really have to stop coming to this place. In fact, I’m done.

  49. GreenDragon says:

    One thing I haven’t seen mentioned regarding this story is the fact that a highly trained athlete like St. Pierre will sweat more, and sweat earlier, than a relatively untrained (cardiovascularly speaking) athlete like Penn. It is a well known fact in the realm of exercise physiology that this occurs, and it is also a well-known fact among fight fans that GSP trains a hell of a lot harder than many of his peers. Also, some people simply sweat more than others. So, in short, St. Pierre’s opponents complain for 3 main reasons. 1: GSP sweats like crazy, starting early in the fight, and so becomes slippery. 2: St. Pierre is so strong and so skilled in submission defense from top position that it would be difficult to control him even without the sweat (or vaseline) factor.
    3: These other fighters are simply sore over the fact that GSP makes them look like friggin’ amateurs. Talk about penis-envy. Just my opinion. Peace.

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