UFC 94: Penn vs GSP

[chazzyphizzle]

Anderson v. Georges would be an absolutely amazing main event...could shoot UFC up to a whole new level and make boxing more obsolete than it already is.

[Epical]

Yeah... Anderson Silva vs. GSP would be an unreal fight. Finally a superfight that would be scary to watch because of the SKILL. I still think GSP would win.

[tyven]

i think silva is too big for gsp. 4 inches taller, slight reach advantage, way too accurate of a striker.

[Chips]

Anderson may be bigger, and be very accurate with his strikes, but his TD defense isn't that great. If GSP could get inside and clinch, I guarantee he'd be able to take him down... Although he probably wouldn't be able to until the late 2nd or 3rd round, and it'd come down to a really close decision.

[tyven]

i think i remember hearing GSP in an interview saying he walks around @ 190, so i guess it wouldnt be out of the realm of possibility?

[Xno Kappa]

Yeah, GSP always has to cut down to make weight.

[archibaldcrane]

Yeah, GSP always has to cut down to make weight.

And then he puts it all back in before the fight. He was 187 last night, after cutting to 170.

Apparently when Thiago Alves beat Josh Koscheck last October, he entered the cage at 199.

After making weight at 171. He put on 28 lbs. in like 36 hours. Fucking insane.

[noblemountain]

And then he puts it all back in before the fight. He was 187 last night, after cutting to 170.

Apparently when Thiago Alves beat Josh Koscheck last October, he entered the cage at 199.

After making weight at 171. He put on 28 lbs. in like 36 hours. Fucking insane.

thiago makes a monster cut...it's scary how much he cuts. anderson walks around at 220 and cuts to 185...so saying GSP is "above" 185 doesn't matter 'cause silva still is above him...almost everyone makes fairly big cuts to their weight classes nowadays, so anyone moving up is gonna have a harder time even if that is their "true" weight class. you got guys that are 6'4" with huge reaches sitting at 185...i honestly don't think GSP would win, but it'd be a great fight to hype up and watch.

[Blarg]

Jon Jones throws.

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[Epical]

Lol, I remember that elbow. Vicious.

[Dimmauk]

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_spor...pSBvADAAo4dUQ8

Did GSP's corner cheat to give him an edge?

By Steve Cofield

After a dominating victory over B.J. Penn at UFC 94, Georges St. Pierre is clearly the better fighter. GSP left no doubt. And yet now there is, thanks to one of his cornermen, Phil Nurse. It's pretty clear by watching the video that Nurse had some Vaseline on his hands when he rubbed St. Pierre's shoulders, back and chest between the first and second rounds.

Why is that a big deal in mixed martial arts? It's significant because of all the grappling and maneuvering that takes place on the ground. St. Pierre was on top of Penn in the second round and the Hawaiian tried several times to shift his legs up to work for a triangle choke or an armbar. Grip and some friction is huge in these cases and a slippery fighter would make it more difficult to lock on one of those holds. Above you can see, Nurse apply Vaseline to GSP's face, then get more Vaseline, then rub his shoulders, arms and back.

Penn's trainer Rudy Valentino told InsideFighting that St. Pierre cheated and the Vaseline thwarted his fighter's strategy:

"To cheat to win is not honorable. Why need another edge? Our gameplan was on the ground, not striking because we knew Georges had good kicks. We planned to work off the back."

Valentino says they warned the Nevada State Athletic Commission before the fight alleging that St. Pierre did it before their meeting in 2006 and that Matt Serra's camp claimed the same thing happened in Serra's second fight against GSP.

Greg Jackson, GSP's trainer hurt his reputation according to Valentino:

"I respect Greg Jackson but to do something like that, his integrity has been compromised."

Jackson told his side of the story to MMAWeekly:

"In between rounds, you always want to put on vaseline on (a fighter’s face). So Phil Nurse put all the Vaseline on his face, so his hands might have had a miniscule amount left over from that, when he went around the side and rubbed a little point on his back, and tapped on his chest."

Watching the scenarios (1, 2, 3), show Nurse did more than tap the chest and rub a little point on GSP's back.

Jackson chalked all of this up to an overreaction by the NSAC:

"At that point, somebody in the audience thought we were greasing George down, and ran over and told the commission that we were greasing his body down. The commission came in and said ‘you can’t grease him down,’ which didn’t work. They said ‘you’re putting Vaseline on his back,’ and Phil’s like, ‘oh, there might be a little on my fingers, but it wasn’t intentional at all, and of course they wiped it right off and it was gone, so it wasn’t a factor in the fight at all."

"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.

UFC president Dana White also thought it was a serious violation:

"I saw the commission jump up there and flip out," said White. "They said one of the guys was rubbing Vaseline on Georges' back in between rounds. It was one and two, I think. I personally didn't see it, the commission did. And that's about as illegal as you can get... I'm sure the commission is going to deal (with it)."

White didn't believe that it affected the outcome of the fight but he re-stated that illegal is illegal:

"You could have put Vaseline on from head to toe, that wasn't the point, the point was you don't do it. It's illegal. The guy who did it needs to be punished, it's not (St. Pierre's) fault. The question is what happens to a guy that does that. You've got to put the smack down on him. He should lose his license."

Ultimately, did the use of the Vaseline win the fight for St. Pierre? No. But Penn's camp does have a right to complain.

St. Pierre should be getting props for being the better conditioned fighter, designing and executing the perfect gameplan. The way he wore down Penn in the first round by holding his left leg up on three occasions with the threat of a single-leg takedown, was brilliant. It allowed him takedown a tired Penn with ease in each of the next three rounds. More importantly, GSP was able to pass guard and shift between full guard and side control as if he were fighting a first-year jiu-jitsu student. Now Penn, other fighters who dislike St. Pierre and fans may call for an asterisk on his dominant victory.

[Brill Weave]

Retarded column by Cofield. I will agree that GSP's corner man should be tossed out and have his license revoked. But when it comes right down to the facts, GSP dominated BJ. Not just beat, flat out dominated, the entire fight. He put the vasoline on between the first and the second rounds. That doesn't explain how BJ got manhandled the rest of the fight after that. Cofield's just trying to stir shit up. I'm by no means a GSP fanboy or a fan of Penn. But I know when someone is out of their league and BJ falls right into that category.

[Xno Kappa]

Cofield's column's are always nothing more then opinionated garbage to begin with. Let's not forget how Cofield's lips were collectively around Penn's cock before the fight. GSP completely dominated B.J. Penn to the point the Vaseline would have made little to no difference. Of course the act in itself was wrong, but to even insinuate there would have been a different end-result had it not been for the Vaseline reeks of fanboy.

[Brill Weave]

Agreed one hundred percent. While the argument can be made the BJ's game plan was to fight from his back to utilize his BJJ more, that doesn't make up for the fact that even in the first round BEFORE the vasoline was applied, he was in way too deep. Sadly I wouldn't be surprised to see BJ's camp push for a rematch because of that.

[wyrmtung]

Yeah, but Penn's strategy was to go to the ground anyway. GSP didn't need to use it to win probably but he guaranteed a victory by taking away Penn's one advantage

[Xno Kappa]

What advantage are you talking about!?

Penn couldn't even get past GSP's take-down defense to begin with in the 1st round and it was so blatantly obvious he was gassed by the end of the 2nd. So how do you propose the Vaseline, which anyone whose done any boxing/mma would know is gone within a minute of the round anyways, did anything to hinder an exhausted Penn whose guard was being put through a jiu-jitsu clinic by GSP?

[archibaldcrane]

He's pretty clear in the column that it wouldn't have made a difference and that GSP dominated anyway.

But any time a rule is broken like this it should be exposed, whether it made a difference or not. Cornermen just can't do shit like that.

[Brill Weave]

While I agree that BJ's strategy was to get on the mat, he never even came close to a takedown that first round. GSP's takedown defense was probably the best I've ever seen. And that had nothing to do with vasoline. Penn was done midway through the first round.

Regardless I think everyone can agree here that his cornerman needs to be gone. Period. What happens when he pulls that in a closely contested fight that GSP ends up winning because he gets out of a clinch etc? Needs to be addressed to assure it never happens again. What should have been a dominating win for GSP is turning into a nightmare for him.

[tyven]

first time penn went down and immediately went to rubber guard i thought it was a solid strategy. i could see how the vasoline may have effected him in that way, but it doesnt matter cuz GSP was way to strong fo that shit.

[Talus]

Penn was just overmatched against GSP. The Lyoto fight was more interesting, and the ending was way cooler and unexpected.. it was just throw, jack you in the jaw twice and Silva was out right at the end.