Georges St. Pierre Defeated B.J. Penn in UFC 94 -- With Help From Vaseline?

Posted Feb 02, 2009 10:30AM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: UFC

During his dominant win over B.J. Penn at UFC 94, Georges. St. Pierre appeared to have petroleum jelly applied to his shoulders and back by Phil Nurse, one of his cornermen.

That would be a violation of MMA rules, and it has a lot of UFC fans abuzz.

Here are my basic feelings on the matter:

1. Vaseline is definitely not the reason St. Pierre beat Penn.
2. Vaseline on the body is definitely against the rules, and if one of his trainers intentionally broke the rules, there should be consequences.

GSP's camp says the Vaseline was applied unintentionally. According to GSP and his trainers, Nurse had been applying Vaseline to St. Pierre's face (which is legal) and then was rubbing down the muscles of his back and shoulder before he had wiped all the Vaseline off his hands.

But Penn's camp doesn't buy it, and they've filed a formal complaint.

My own feeling is that this will blow over, but any time there are allegations of cheating in a major fight like this one, they need to be closely examined. For more, check out Cage Writer, Fight Opinion, MMA Weekly, Cage Potato, Fight Linker, Bloody Elbow and MMA Mania.

UFC 94 Photos

B.J. Penn takes left from Georges St. Pierre during their UFC welterweight mixed martial art title bout Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas. St. Pierre won by TKO. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

Eric Jamison, AP

B.J. Penn, left, punches Georges St. Pierre during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

UFC

Georges St. Pierre, right, punches B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Georges St. Pierre charges B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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B.J. Penn and Georges St. Pierre battle during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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B.J. Penn tries to fend off Georges St. Pierre during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

UFC

Georges St. Pierre, right, tries to punch B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Georges St. Pierre catches the leg of B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Georges St. Pierre battles B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Georges St. Pierre elbows B.J. Penn during their match at UFC 94 on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

UFC

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)

2-02-2009 @ 10:56AM

FEDABUREAU said...

This is one of the dumbest pieces I have ever seen on AOL sports. If any additional Vaseline was rubbed on GSP, it surely served to assist B.J. Penn as some more of the hundreds of punches leveled at Penn's head should have slid off.

2-02-2009 @ 11:01AM

U go girl! said...

Actually it would have assisted GSP. If GSP was slippery with vaseline, then there would be no way that Penn could handle him on ground...and that's what it looked like. I've never seen Penn get handled so badly. Not saying it was because of the vaseline, but am certainly not ruling that out.

2-02-2009 @ 2:28PM

gridirongang said...

You clearly do not understand MMA. Vaseline on the shoulders and back is a huge advantage for the ground game. GSP's whole strategy was to trap Penn on the ground....Vaseline makes it extremely hard to escape...pretty lame if GSP did it because he probably would have still won...but it would not have been such a cakewalk...Penn got exhausted trying to escape on the ground. Penn is best at his ideal weight ...he is a great fighter but he is a true lightweight fighter...a similar fate would befallen on Evans going up to heavyweight or many others leaving their ideal weight class. Your comments display your ignorance...go back to the WWE!

2-03-2009 @ 4:00PM

Eric said...

All the struggling BJ went through trying to control GSP is the reason he gassed. Saying that the grease on GSP didn't effect the fight (at least a little bit) is silly.

With a stand-up and jui-jitsu fighter of BJ's caliber, it's not unreasonable to think he could have hurt or submitted GSP if he could have controlled him on the ground or held him to cause a standup.

I don't remember GSP passing at all in their first fight ... this is a much more serious issue than people are giving it credit.

2-02-2009 @ 11:12AM

ssabolovich said...

BJ needed the vasoline for his backside because he knew GSP was going to punk him. Hey BJ, besides being a big mouth you're a crybaby too!!!

2-02-2009 @ 5:56PM

Jason said...

Did you read the article? GSP had the vasaline moron, not BJ. Before you make stupid comments make sure you understand what you are reading. Typical computer geek talking trash over the net.

2-04-2009 @ 4:39PM

Yo KID! said...

Totally!

Kemp said...

Vaseline and sweaty guys? Should have just let that one be AOL.

2-02-2009 @ 11:15AM

danieljhns said...

heres the thing,the vaseline didnt help GSP at all,i watched the fight and he actually beat the crap out of Penn plain and simple.so whats the next excuse,stephen bonner had hemrroids thats why he lost?,give us a break!.the better fighter won AGAIN!

swimmingu99 said...

You guys are idiots. If you noticed, the attempts at the triangle submission by BJ Penn on GSP were thwarted by the fact that he stood up to slide out, he spent more time in side control to ground and pound then anywhere else. Penn is a sore loser, and is looking for excuses. Watch the replays of GSP's corner talks.
On top of that, after all the smack that Penn talked, he tapped out to punches. Man up and take the beating, or don't even step into the octagon.

2-02-2009 @ 2:32PM

Finally...someone who knows how to watch and objectively analyze a fight....believe it or not I was rooting for GSP...the vaseline also gets on your gloves and has a double effect. I see the MMA converts from the WWE are in full force here.

2-02-2009 @ 2:42PM

1)He didn't tap out to punches.
2)Vaseline on the shoulders would keep Penn from being able to tie up GSP on the ground and avoid damage.

Even a small amount of grease (yes, vaseline is just like grease) may have changed the outcome of the fight ... at the very least it kept BJ from being able to tie up GSP and cause a standup!

2-02-2009 @ 7:52PM

Poker Dude said...

funny thing is Penn said only a bitch taps out to punches!! lmfao

2-02-2009 @ 11:16AM

Barry said...

Penn is a BJJ master and he could not hold on to GSP because of the vaseline. if that`s not cheating than what is ? I`m not a big fan of penn but i have seen him fight many times and have never seen him dominated like that.I think that a full investigation is called for & if it is true that GSP cheated then his should be striped of his title !

2-02-2009 @ 11:18AM

blessed0314 said...

Bj got smashed so bad that he and his camp has to come up with something to take away from thats ass wipeing. Yes its true that that coner of GSP did rub his back with vaseline but it was wiped of as soon as it went down. the navada comissions was all over it. It had nothing to do with the fight. BJ man up and just face it. YOU GOT AN ASS WIPEING!!

2-02-2009 @ 2:50PM

Dave said...

What a moron. You are probably one of the LOSERS that boo's when a great BJJ fighter has a one punch loser on his ass. GSP is awesome and any advantage is and should be illegal. Its not crying when it ACUALLY happened. GSP's corner is not even saying it didn't happen... cause it did. That changes the fight. BJ likes to be on his back and loves submissions and GSP's corner knows that. GSP is from the Ghetto and so are his peeps....

2-03-2009 @ 10:08AM

Did you even watch the fight? Forget it!! Not worth the time.

2-02-2009 @ 11:17AM

islagrant said...

wwwwwwwaaaaaaaa wwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaa wwwwwwwwwaaaaaa

You clearly didn't watch the fight.

2-02-2009 @ 3:26PM

I watched it...I paid $44.95...if he used Vaseline I want my money back. You might have watched it but you are either a GSP fan, Penn hater or someone that does not understand MMA. Any fight (just ask Lesnar about his fight with Mir. He was dominating Mir...made one mistake and within 10 seconds had to tap)...YOU CANNOT ARMBAR, TRIANGLE or escape if your opponent has Vaseline....GSP will only stand with Penn if he knows he can wear him out on the ground...I love GSP...he is amazing...but if he did this it is a bad deal and hurts the sport immensely...our edge at MMA the high trust level fans have for it. BJ talks too much crap and seems to have commitment issues in the gym...HOWEVER...he is skilled enough to (as is GSP) to save a fight by capitalizing on a mistake...I pray GSP did not do this. Ease of the BS....or go back to the WWE with your substance lacking analysis.