While the widespread discussion of the actions of UFC welterweight champion George St. Pierre's cornermen during his UFC 94 bout with lightweight champion B.J. Penn on Jan. 31 have slowly started to simmer down, the ultimate outcome of the situation has yet to be decided.
Penn's lawyer, Raffi A. Nahabedian, who earlier this month filed a request with the Nevada State Athletic Commission to investigate the potentially improper use of Vaseline on St. Pierre's body, recently let the NSAC know that Penn still intended on filing a formal complaint.
The comments were made during the NSAC's recent monthly meeting.
In his address to the commission, issued during the public comments portion of the agenda, Nahabedian said he felt the commission's esteemed reputation made it imperative for them to issue a directive for future combatants.
"I'm here to bring mention to the commission of a letter that I provided to Mr. Kizer, which I understand was forwarded on to the commission," Nahabedian said. "I know that it's not on the agenda here today, but we do look forward to the matter being presented to the commission and the commission looking in to matters in the letter -- the reason being that it's considered by most people in the U.S., if not the world, that Nevada is the bastion of unarmed combat. It regulates all forms of unarmed combat, and it sets precedents that other states in the U.S. follow, if not the world."
Penn and Nahabedian's complaints center around the lightweight champion's inability to effectively utilize his grappling skills during the bout due to the improper application of Vaseline to St. Pierre's back by his cornermen.
"In order for Mr. Penn (or any other licensed fighter of the Nevada Athletic Commission) to properly executive Brazilian jiu-jitsu or the many other grappling techniques which are an essential part of MMA, it is necessary that an environment exists without any illegally applied lubricants, oils or other substances that cause or result in slippery surfaces on the combatants," Nahabedian stated in his original letter.
Nahabedian said he would soon follow up that earlier letter of request with the filing an official complaint on St. Pierre and all members of his team.
"I know that the matter is going to be coming up in the near future," Nahabedian said. "We also are intending on filing a complaint with the athletic commission with respect to the persons that are licensed by the state such as Mr. St. Pierre, Mr. (Greg) Jackson and Mr. (Phil) Nurse relating to their activities as well as other members of their team that are licensed by the state."
Kizer said the issue will be addressed formally in a future meeting of the commission, though he is still waiting on St. Pierre's camp to file an official response to Nahabedian's original inquiry.
"I sent a request for information to the cornermen and I gave them 20 days from the date of the letter which is sometime next week, if my calculations are correct," Kizer said.
Kizer said he would supply the commission with the responses from St. Pierre's team, as well as a DVD that shows the complete events that occurred in St. Pierre's corner between each round.
Nahabedian reiterated how serious Penn's camp was about the alleged "greasing."
"It's a very serious matter that needs to be tended to no different than steroids have been treated in the sport, or other types of substances in the sport," Nahabedian said. "Anything that gains unfair advantage for one combatant over another, or positions another combatant in a situation or manner that renders his opponent defenseless is something the commission should really take seriously -- and I know it does."
While the events in question happened nearly a month ago, Kizer told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that Penn's camp is not facing any sort of formal statute of limitations.
"I don't there's any deadline in that, just reasonable time," Kizer said.
Penn recently released his own video evidence of the alleged incident on BJ Penn.com. While obviously one-sided in its presentation of the evidence, the video has swayed many viewers into seeing the incident from Penn's perspective.
