Penn files complaint against St. Pierre, seeks no-contest ruling of UFC 94 boutby Steve Sievert on Mar 12, 2009 at 8:50 am ET
B.J. Penn has filed a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, alleging that Georges St. Pierre used illegal means to gain an unfair advantage in their welterweight title bout at UFC 94 in January.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that the complaint seeks to declare St. Pierre's victory in the Jan. 31 fight a "no contest" and requests that the NSAC suspend the licenses of St. Pierre, trainer Greg Jackson and cornerman Phil Nurse.
In addition, Penn is seeking a $250,000 fine to be levied against the trio.
The complaint states that St. Pierre's body was "highly and unnaturally slippery well beyond that contemplated and experienced by veteran mixed martial arts fighters and, based thereon, Penn alleges that the application of Vaseline/petroleum jelly or some substance to Pierre's (sic) body by his agents, employees or co-conspirators during the bout was not innocent and/or inadvertent act or mistake, but, in fact, a calculated strategy and an intentional act by Pierre to have a substance applied to his body during the bout that would result in his body becoming highly and unnaturally slippery."
"This was one hundred percent intentional and orchestrated," said attorney Raffi Nahabedian, who filed the complaint on behalf of Penn Monday. "
B.J. truly believes that if he (St. Pierre) wasn't as slippery, it would have been a vastly different bout."
The complaint also states that Penn is not alone in his accusations against the UFC welterweight champion. Penn contends "other renowned mixed martial arts fighters have openly complained of and expressed statements consistent with Penn's experience during his bout against Pierre, that is, Pierre's body was highly and unnaturally slippery."
Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk and Jason Miller all have raised questions about the slipperiness of St. Pierre in their bouts against the Canadian.
The smoking gun in Penn's case against St. Pierre is the video from the fight that clearly shows Nurse massaging St. Pierre's back after applying petroleum jelly to his hands to rub St. Pierre's face between rounds. The St. Pierre camp contends that the rubbing of his back was part of a breathing technique.
"The breathing technique is a red herring," said Nahabedian in an exclusive interview with MMAjunkie.com. "It's hard to deny that something wasn't going on, and we believe the fact that he was overly slippery calls into question the integrity of the fight."
Allegations from the Penn camp have been supported by UFC President Dana White, who told the Canadian Press last month:
"Do I think that he got greased? Yeah, I do. Absolutely, 100 percent, I think that that guy (Nurse) was rubbing grease on him. Do I think Georges was trying to cheat? Absolutely not at all. But, that corner man was rubbing grease on him. You cannot do that. You put another fighter at a huge disadvantage, which is very dangerous. I think he was. I do. I think he absolutely, positively knew that he was rubbing grease on him. I do. Nobody can tell me different. I watched the tape a million times."
The complaint goes on to state that the slipperiness of St. Pierre's body made it difficult for Penn to mount an offense in the fight and utilize his trademark Brazilian jiu jitsu and grappling skills. The Penn camp also alleges that as a direct result of St. Pierre's "greasing," Penn suffered a concussion in the bout because St. Pierre was "able to readily and easily slip out of Penn's renowned defensive and offensive submission holds and techniques. As such, Penn was unable to fairly and properly defend himself."
The 20-page complaint also draws a direct comparison between "greasing up" to cheat and taking steroids to do the same. Penn asserts that achieving an unsanctioned advantage by applying a slippery substance to the body is "no different than an unarmed combatant using steroids to gain an unfair, illegal and unsanctioned advantage over his opponent."
St. Pierre won by TKO after Penn's corner stopped the bout following the fourth round.
"This complaint was filed to preserve the sanctity and credibility of the sport," said Nahabedian. "That is of paramount importance to B.J."
Penn's camp has requested an NSAC hearing on the matter. A date for a formal hearing has not been scheduled. However, issues surrounding the St. Pierre-Penn fight are due to be discussed at the commission's next meeting on Tuesday.
Steve Sievert is the lead staff writer and business columnist for MMAjunkie.com. He is also the former MMA beat writer and lead blogger for the Houston Chronicle.
