Comments on: Define Greasing: Anderson Silva and the unspoken incident at UFC 97

By: meatloaf

meatloaf — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:16:33 +0000

No it’s not a non issue. Read what Josh Gross had to say about it.
Referee Yves Lavigne said he wiped down Silva, but do you really think he got it all off? I mean it’s Vaseline.
The strikers in this sport are already at an advantage. If they’re allowed to get away with this non sense then grapplers in this sport are at an even bigger disadvantage.
All fighters and their camps have to be told before every fight that if something like this happens during a fight it’s going to cost them a point.
Points are deducted for grabbing the cage or grabbing shorts or gloves and this is more of an advantage.

By: Cathedron

Cathedron — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:50:59 +0000

This has been talked about in detail other places (Sherdog, I think). The ref said Leites’ corner saw it, pointed it out to him, and then he wiped Anderson down. He also said he didn’t think it was intentional and that it was an extremely minor amount of grease. Leites’ corner then gave a thumbs up that they were happy with the resolution. It’s a non issue.

By: MMA-LOGIC

MMA-LOGIC — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:38:41 +0000

I think he should be made an example of in some way before this gets out of hand. Before you know it everyone will be doing it. Kids just say no to grease.

By: JJ Docker

JJ Docker — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:47:20 +0000

Oh and I forgot to say – greased or not, intentional or not, this had absolutely no bearing on the result of the fight whatsoever.

By: JJ Docker

JJ Docker — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:45:41 +0000

I’ve re-watched this several times and I have to say you are right, Silva wipes excess Vaseline off his face and then wipes it over his body. However, I’m not sure of his intentions. If you watch Stitch greasing him up, he really does apply a lot of Vaseline to his face – there is excess amounts over both eyes and under the right side of his mouth. This seems to me an unusually large amount. So when I saw Silva first wipe his face then rub his hands down his chest, I thought he could have been doing it without realising what he was doing. As in, he could feel excess grease on his eyebrow (on his right eyebrow particularly there was a considerable amount of grease) and so he wiped it off and then wiped his hands on his body, with no where else to wipe them. But then he did it again, and then again. And the third time he (seemingly) purposefully wiped grease down both his arms. So it’s a strange situation. I honestly think, with all the adrenaline flowing and other things on his mind, Silva could have absent-mindedly wiped the grease off and onto his body, with no intention of cheating. If nothing else, because he did it in such an obvious way that I can’t imagine it was a calculated move. Especially after the uproar following the greasing incident in the St. Pierre/Penn fight. Although it is impossible to know what his thinking was behind it, if there was any at all. But, intentions aside, I feel the evidence is pretty conclusive, and so I am also surprised that this has not been brought up before now.

By: ZP580

ZP580 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:54:59 +0000

Wow, I just checked the video and he is clearly taking vaseline from his face and applying it to his chest and arms. Check it out mma-core.com

By: jj

jj — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:06:01 +0000

i highly doubt this had any outcome on the fight, but regardless of that it looks very intentional. there’s a big difference between a cornerman doing it possibly accidentally and the fighter himself doing it.

By: cheard

cheard — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:58:03 +0000

PLEASE WOULD SOMEONE PAY ATTENTION TO THE BEGINING OF THE FIGHT. AS SOON AS STICH OR WHOMEVER WAS THE CORNER MAN WALKED OFF AND THE FIGHT WAS ABOUT TO START ANDERSON RUBBED HIS FACE,SHOULDERS AND CHEST. i WAS SCREAMING AT THE TV. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN AGAIN. I THINK THE NEED TO LOSE THE GREASE. ITS A SPORT THAT YOUR GOING TO GET HIT IN THE FACE AND WE ARE GOING TO TRY AND MINIMIZE THE DAMAGE. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: paddiosf

paddiosf — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:39:54 +0000

Omg, I watched this whole fight over again and I didnt see anything that would suggest vaseline was on his body or someone wiped on him…

By: mikefab

mikefab — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:38:21 +0000

I noticed it as soon as it happened and thought it strange that I was actually noticing a man wiping vasoline on his body. Thanks GSP cornerman.

By: Austin

Austin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:58:12 +0000

If you watched him get vaselined by stich. STICH CLEARLY just vaselined his cheeks, eyebrows, and nose. Anderson was primarily wiping sweat off of his forehead and face.

By: Austin

Austin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:55:31 +0000

Pics or GTFO (i’m pulling my video to check as we speak.)

By: Sharona

Sharona — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:36:14 +0000

I think that the issue is how big of a deal it was when it was GSP. The man was raked over the coals, had his integrity and talent put into question and not one word said about Silva’s obvious infraction of the rules.

Maybe it’s a non-issue due to the fact that Silva hardly engaged in this fight?

In any event I’m glad that some light is being shed on it. It was sooo obvious and almost insulting.

By: ace328

ace328 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:30:27 +0000

I do remember him touching his face after entering the octagon but I never thought any of this was that big of deal. During the course of a fight, grease gets spread all over both fighters to some degree. I don’t really see a problem with a fighter transferring any grease from his face onto other parts of his body.

If it really is that big of a deal make the fighter’s corner wipe them down with a towel before the fight and in between rounds.