We may disagree on the GSP story, but here’s something we can all get behind.

If anything positive comes out of this debacle, it is the prohibition of Vaseline anywhere near a cornerman’s hands.

I agree the rule should be changed.

But under the current rule, I cannot agree that “excessive” means, as Ivan claims, “any vaseline in any quantity on the body.” That’s just not what the regulation says, and language matters.

Kizer says vaseline on the body is improper because he (rightfully) doesn’t want to be making judgment calls every fight as to what is excessive and what is not. So, in practice, “no grease” is the safe harbor for cornermen and fighters. But that still does not mean that an incidental, small amount of vaseline is (1) per se illegal or (2) that it affected the fight.

And I certainly don’t agree that incidental vaseline application is nearly as serious as steroids or gambling on fights. A fighter can get vaseline on his shoulders/back from a clinch with another fighter. Steroids and gambling, not so much.

FF

This is an important distinction.

Vaseline on the face is not allowed only if it’s deemed “excessive,” and it’s up to the discretion of the athletic commission to determine what is “excessive.”

Vaseline on the body is not allowed in any quantity whatsoever, and the NSAC says that it reminds fighters and/or their camps of this fact before fights. This is similar to fighters being able to gamble on their own fights — whether it’s betting on themselves or betting against themselves — in the sense that there is technically nothing in the official rules that clearly says “you can’t do that,” and yet if you do it and the athletic commission finds out about it, you’re going to be in major trouble. While everyone knows that you can’t do it, the NSAC should really codify it in the rules, just to cover their own asses from a legal standpoint. I agree with you about that much. However, that doesn’t change that anyone who knowingly applies vaseline to a fighter’s back is doing something improper, and anyone who knowingly or unknowingly gets vaseline applied to their back is potentially gaining an unfair advantage.

It’s funny how a small amout of vaseline transform GSP into the biggest cheater in the sport…

MMA fans are idiots.

Greasy St. Pierre is a discredit to this fine sport and unfortunately some sites like Sherdog rank him higher P4P then Fedor, a man who molests his opponents in one round rather then greasing up and punishing them. GSP is claimed to be a classy guy but hes the complete opposite attempting to hurt or maim his opposition by cheating, while Fedor just puts the lights out and spars any unnecessary damage. Atleast Josh Gross has Fedor ranked 1, and reflects who actually possessed the knowledge on Shatdog compared to their current board of goons.

Count me as a #3

You’re thinking about this from a journalist’s perspective, not a legal one.

First, grease on the body is only illegal if it is “excessive.” I strongly think “incidental” is different than “excessive,” and I believe what happened here — based on YOUR video footage of what happened after round ONE — was “incidental” grease. My view is not based on a “willful disregard” of the facts. It’s a legal argument based on the most reasonable reading of the regulation as written. You may disagree, but don’t confuse factual views with legal ones.

Second, whether it “could” have affected the fight: I don’t believe it did. Appellate courts (where I largely practice) routinely resolve matters by determining that, although a technical violation may have occurred in the trial court, the verdict is not reversible b/c the error is “harmless error.” Put another way: before determining the remedy, appellate courts determine whether the alleged error was likely to have had a material consequence — not that, in some speculative sense, it “could” have.

So, either you believe that (1) grease applied was excessive AND it affected the outcome, in which case GSP should be severely punished, or (2) the grease applied was not excessive BUT it still affected the outcome, in which case GSP should not be punished but the rule should almost certainly be changed to prevent this from happening again, or (3) that grease applied was not excessive and it had no effect on the outcome, in which case no penalty should occur here, but a rule change might be appropriate to prevent scenario #2 from happening in the future.

I’m in scenario 3. Where are you?

FF