After a week of speculation, allegations and attempts by B.J. Penn to smear Georges St. Pierre's win last week in Vegas, the UFC needs to come out and make an official statement about this whole "Grease-gate" thing.
And I think it should go something like this:
"The apparent application of Vaseline to Georges St. Pierre's body was inadvertent and had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the main event of UFC 94. St. Pierre's win over B.J. Penn was definitive and the result is not considered tainted by the UFC. St. Pierre beat Penn once before, and he did it again, in even more convincing fashion. There will be no rematch between the two -- Penn will now focus on his own weight class again and each will defend their respective belts."
The Nevada State Athletic Commission is still investigating the matter and could decide to 1) Suspend/fine GSP's cornermen, and/or 2) Declare the bout a no-contest. I doubt they'll do either and I sincerely hope they don't.
A little bit of Vaseline didn't stop Penn from being able to take a heavier St. Pierre down in the first round. Some superfluous grease didn't help a stronger Georges have his way with B.J. in Round No. 2. A slightly more slippery body of the French Canadian didn't cause the Hawaiian Prodigy to take such a pummeling to his face and body that he couldn't muster the will to go out for a final frame.
I can understand Penn sending a complaint to the athletic commission. But his camp should have done it quietly and allowed an investigation to happen first. Penn coming out publicly and suggesting that St. Pierre cheated just smacks of sour grapes. And asking for a rematch to settle things properly? Please.
Does anybody remember the 2006 MLB post-season when Kenny Rogers was caught with a smudge on his hand while pitching for the Detroit Tigers. He called it "dirt mixed with some rosin." Whether he was actually cheating or not, we can't be sure. But was the ALDS against the New York Yankees or the ALCS against the Oakland Athletics replayed? I don't think so. (Besides, after wiping it off in the first inning of Game 2 of the World Series, he still pitched eight shutout innings to beat the St. Louis Cardinals.)
Nobody, save for hardcore Penn fans, really want to see a GSP-BJ III anytime soon. So let's just move on. The UFC has already taken the step of changing the rules regarding a fighter's cornermen. They can no longer handle the Vaseline in between rounds to treat and prevent cuts on the face. Instead, the UFC will provide one cutman for each fighter and each corner can only have two people enter the Octagon between rounds. This will keep things kosher and shows the UFC is taking the matter seriously. Now, go one step further and put the matter to bed.
WEC GETS EVEN LIGHTER: Zuffa's other property appears to have followed my lead.
The WEC officially announced the addition of a flyweight division (125 pounds) last week, as had been rumoured. But they also took my suggestion of dropping the 170-pound division. (Well, maybe they also had that idea themselves.) In a statement, the organization said it would "no longer actively promote the welterweight division," which means WEC champion Carlos Condit now becomes UFC contender. He takes on Martin Kampmann at a Fight Night on April 1.
With this move, the lightweight division is now the promotion's heaviest. Next maybe they'll go ahead and follow my other advice and turn that class into a 160-pound "super-lightweight" division. (I'm not holding my breath.)
ELITE TIME FOR STRIKEFORCE: Another piece of big news from last week saw Strikeforce acquire the assets of Pro Elite Inc.'s fight promotion, which includes the now defunct EliteXC, as well as sign a new multi-year broadcast deal with Showtime.
This is good news for fans of Gina Carano, Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler (and yes, even Kimbo Slice). They're no longer in limbo and we'll be able to see them in competition again, perhaps as early as April 11 at Strikeforce's next scheduled event.
And speaking of the 160-pound class, that was the weight limit EliteXC used for its lightweight division, but Strikeforce uses the traditional 155 pounds. So that leaves decisions to make for guys like Diaz: go down to 155 or move up to 170? I suppose it may also depend on another question: do you want to challenge Josh Thomson (Strikeforce's lightweight champ) or Jake Shields (EliteXC welterweight title-holder whose contract was also picked up by Strikeforce)?
Did you follow all of that?
ST. PIERRE'S REVENGE? How's this for getting back at Penn:
No. 1 lightweight contender Kenny Florian will go to Montreal and work with St. Pierre's head trainer Firas Zahabi in preparation for his upcoming title challenge against Penn.
Working out of the Tri-Star gym, Zahabi and St. Pierre's camp came up with the most intricate and perfect game-plan for completely neutralizing one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game (and you can be sure it didn't include subtle use of Vaseline). You can bet they'll do some of the same with KenFlo.
