Dan Hardy makes eye contact with GSP

Dan Hardy got a relatively easy knockout win over Rory Markham at UFC 95: Sanchez vs Stevenson. After the win, he told The Sun that during the fight he locked eyes with Georges St. Pierre and the two shared a brief staredown moment.

"There are so many good guys in my division but I managed to lock eyes with Georges St Pierre outside the cage and we had a moment where I was like - 'I'm coming for you, I'm coming for you.' But I know I've still got improvements to make. There are some guys I need to pick off on my way up to him. But whoever the UFC send me next, I'll be ready."

This is a fight I'd really like to see happen. Not because I think it would be competitive, I've just never seen a fight end by murder before.

Matt Hughes talks more about St. Pierre greasing

Just when you thought you were sick of hearing about Georges St. Pierre's greasing allegations during UFC 94: St. Pierre vs Penn 2, Matt Hughes has brought up the topic on his blog again. In response to the reaction he's received about his first post on the subject, he writes:

I usually don't do this, but I will this time. When I talk about a topic one week, it usually doesn't get brought up again. I think a lot of people need to go back and reread last week's blog, including GSP. At no point did I accuse Georges of putting grease on himself. All I said was that he felt slick. I've wrestled over a thousand matches, fought 50 opponents, all I've ever done in life is wrestle and compete with other people. With all that experience, do you think I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between sweat and something else? Last week when I got to Florida, I was in the elevator with Robbie, I said "Robbie did you hear about GSP?" He said, "No, I don't know what you're talking about." I then said that BJ accused him of being slippery, Robbie looked right up at me and said, "That's what you said after Anaheim." Also, I've had several people close to me around my town who have come up to me and said the same thing. I've nothing against GSP, I even think he's somewhat a likable guy. Some people are trying to say that I'm making this personal and that's just not true at all. The reason I didn't bring this up before was because I didn't know there was anything to him being slick. With all the other guys coming out and saying the same thing, I just wanted to be true to myself, and to everybody else, and say that there could be some validity there.

So basically Matt Hughes thinks Georges St. Pierre is a cheater. Because you might "accidentally" grease once, but not multiple times against multiple opponents. And, whoa, hey, Matt, saying St. Pierre is "somewhat a likeable guy"? Geez, get a room. I've never heard such doting praise thrown on another man like that before. What's next? Maybe he's probably not as bad as Hitler? We get it, Matt. You're in love with the guy.

Georges St. Pierre denies cheating

Georges St. Pierre was on the Beatdown radio show yesterday and responded to the greasing allegations. Sherdog reports:

"Listen, I never cheated in my life," an animated St. Pierre told Sherdog Radio Network's "Beatdown" show on Wednesday. "Let me tell you something, I never said something bad to B.J. Penn. I never answered back to him with what he said. I've always been respectful. Even after the fight I went and told him, 'Hey, keep your head up. You can be proud. You're a tough guy. You stayed in the ring for a long time.' But now that he says something like that it bothers me a lot. He already said I was taking steroids, that I was a quitter, that he was blaming me for seeing a sports psychologist and now he says that I cheat because I use Vaseline."

The 27-year-old French Canadian, who narrowly bested Penn via split decision in their first meeting at UFC 58 in March 2006, said Penn's contempt is misplaced.

"It's disrespectful, but B.J. is a winner," St. Pierre said. "I understand a winner's mentality. A winner's mentality always tries to understand the reason why he lost. In B.J.'s case, he doesn't do it in a good way. I understand that he tries to understand why he lost, but what he should've done instead of looking at things he doesn't control he should've looked at himself in the mirror and asked himself what he should've done better to be more well-prepared for that fight to be able to beat Georges St. Pierre instead of looking at me and try to find excuses... B.J. right now is doing it all wrong and he's not going to become a better fighter if he keeps acting like this."

It's a bit presumptuous for St. Pierre to be claiming he did nothing wrong and he's innocent in all this, but he does bring up some good points about BJ Penn. Always making up excuses doesn't make you a better fighter. It does, however, keep you from having to wash the dishes. Honest, honey, the doctor said if I do the dishes I'll die. You can't argue with science!

Georges St. Pierre training at Xtreme Couture

Xtreme Couture has posted some photos of Georges St. Pierre training at their Las Vegas gym prior to the BJ Penn fight. You can check out the rest of the images here. And maybe if you're lucky I'll post some pictures of me training. What's that? Eating an entire pizza and then watching TV for six hours straight doesn't constitute training?

Matt Hughes speaks out on GSP greasing

Matt Hughes has made a post on his official blog regarding UFC 94 and mentions that when he fought Georges St. Pierre, "he felt greasy." From his blog:

I thought BJ would have put on a better performance. BJ Penn is coming from a lighter weight class, but he took the fight at 170. That's the bottom line. I knew it was going to come down to who had the better cardio and even at the end of the first round BJ looked tired. Now, on to what everybody is talking about, the greasing. I'm not the only one who has said that GSP felt greasy during a fight. I know Matt Serra has mentioned it and, even in their first fight, I think BJ said something. I'm not saying GSP did something wrong and I'm not saying that it would have changed any outcomes of any fights; but what I am saying is, for my last two fights against Georges, he felt greasy.

Not exactly conclusive, but if you're to believe what everybody's saying, that's five fighters who have said Georges St. Pierre is greasing (Josh Koscheck, Matt Serra, Jason Miller, BJ Penn, and Matt Hughes). Although keep in mind that's also five fighters that St. Pierre has beaten up. Either there's some validity to what they're saying or St. Pierre just really makes people want to come up with excuses.

Thoughts on Georges St. Pierre's greasing

It probably wouldn't have made a difference in the fight, but George St. Pierre's greasing scandal does shed new light on watching BJ Penn's high guard slipping off of St. Pierre's back and shoulders all through round two. Even if it wasn't intentional, somebody should've stopped St. Pierre's cornerman from rubbing the Vaseline all over his body. Sweat and Vaseline don't just wipe off easily, and even the slightest amounts could make all the difference between getting a sweep or submission. I don't doubt that BJ Penn knew he was going to be taken down in the fight, and to prepare I'm sure he practiced his high guard/rubber guard. It's a little suspect that the parts of St. Pierre which were accidentally "greased" (his back and shoulders) were the parts which would've best nullified Penn's ground game.

I still do believe it was an accident and that it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the fight, but cheating is cheating. Sean Sherk was crucified for maybe accidentally taking steroids (he passed a polygraph and other samples in his test group had false positives). For some reason St. Pierre is getting a pass simply because we like the guy. And, yes, we do like the guy. Let's just be honest here and not blind ourselves to the fact that Vaseline was applied to his chest, back, and shoulders. Whether or not it was intentional doesn't really matter. If they accidentally slipped a brass knuckle into his glove it's still cheating. If Kobe Bryant showed up to an elementary school basketball game with a jetpack would we just look the other way and say it was okay because he would've won anyway?

NSAC speaks out about George St. Pierre "greasing"

The Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed today that improprieties had occurred in George St. Pierre's corner after the first and second rounds. Sherdog reports:

"After the first round, one of my inspectors came to me and told me he thought he saw one of the cornermen -- I believe it was Phil Nurse ... after putting Vaseline on [St. Pierre's] face, he saw him rub his shoulders, and it appeared as though he might not have wiped off his hands," Kizer said. "After the second round, we observed Mr. Jackson putting Vaseline on Mr. St. Pierre's face and then putting his hand on his back."

At that point, Kizer attempted to get Jackson's attention from outside the cage.

"I don't think he heard me because of all the noise in the arena, so I immediately walked into the Octagon myself -- I've probably done that two other times in my career -- and told him to take his hand off Mr. St. Pierre's back," he said. "We took a towel and wiped off his back. After the third round, we went in again and made sure his back and shoulders were wiped off to ensure a level playing field."

"I told them I was disappointed and that they may have tainted Mr. St. Pierre's victory," he said. "I told them if it happens again, it will probably be the last time they work a corner in Nevada. Basically, they said, 'Look, we're sorry. We're not trying to do anything. It was an accident.' Whether it was intentional or not, I don't know. It was improper."

According to St. Pierre's trainer, Greg Jackson, the back rubbing was part of a ritual to help calm St. Pierre, and the Vaseline was completely unintentional. I really don't know what to believe here. Other fighters (including Josh Koscheck, Matt Serra, and even BJ Penn in their first fight) have complained of St. Pierre greasing and I've seen a few pretty curious clips on the internet which make me wonder. Even if the NSAC clears St. Pierre of any wrongdoing, what should have been the pinnacle of his career thus far has been tarnished. It's undeniable Vaseline was applied to his back and shoulders, it's just going to come down to whether or not it was intentional and whether or not it was sufficiently wiped off.

UFC 94 Analysis: Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn

Watching the fight you never would've guessed that BJ Penn once fought Georges St. Pierre to a controversial split decision loss. No, you would've seen the fight for exactly what it was: a lightweight champion fighting a welterweight champion in a division he's just too small for.

The fight was a one sided beating by Georges St. Pierre, a man with so much discipline he makes Buddhist monks look like couch potatoes. BJ Penn simply had no answers to St. Pierre's superior strength and wrestling. There have been some whisperings of controversy (GSP's corner possibly greasing his back in between rounds), but even if true, I couldn't see it changing the outcome of the fight.

There was a part of me that always believed BJ Penn really did have all the potential in the world and that he just lacked focused. Saturday's fight showed that maybe in his previous fights he was closer to his potential than maybe anybody ever saw. He trained hard for this fight, and the results just weren't what we were all hoping for. Perhaps his body has peaked, but I just can't see BJ Penn growing much more as a fighter. At 155 lbs he's still the king, but UFC 94 showed just how much farther than him Georges St. Pierre as progressed.

There's no shame in losing to a champion that's just naturally bigger and stronger, but I just always sort of hoped that a BJ Penn who realized his full potential would be an unstoppable BJ Penn. Now it appears a BJ Penn who realizes his full potential is just BJ Penn.

UFC 94 Picks: Georges St. Pierre vs. B.J. Penn

Georges "Rush" St. Pierre
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Age: 27
Record: 17-2

What can be said about Georges St. Pierre that hasn't already been said? He's a ridiculous athlete who's well rounded in every aspect of the game. He has maybe the most crushing wrestling in MMA, versatile striking, and now has his BJJ blackbelt. Without doubt, St. Pierre's strategy for this fight is going to be to take BJ Penn down and try to smother him with ground and pound. And if he can manage to push the fight into the later rounds he'll have a significant cardio advantage as well. BJ has rededicated himself to getting in shape, but he's just nowhere near the level of athlete that GSP is.

B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Age: 30
Record: 13-4-1

He talks a lot of trash but he's got the talent and the skill to back it up. Nobody wants to see BJ Penn realize his talent more than me, but he's just not suited for the 170 lb division. He's looked great in his last three fights, but those were at his natural weight of 155 lbs. He's got all the tools to win, but he's at a tremendous size and strength disadvantage here. If he can manage to stay off his back and turn this into a brawl he'll have a chance, but I just can't see him being able to stop St. Pierre's takedowns.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Georges St. Pierre will take BJ down and ground and pound a decision. BJ didn't have a lot of answers off his back in their first fight, and GSP has just improved so much since then. The only way I see BJ winning is catching St. Pierre early with a punch and capitalizing. Otherwise, expect another wrestling clinic put on by the division's premiere athlete: Me. Or Georges St. Pierre. Look, whatever, man.

UFC Undisputed 2009: Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn

Through the magic of video games, here's a taste of what Saturday's UFC 94 event could look like. You know, assuming Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn show up looking like weird, plastic, twitchy versions of themselves.