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The MMA Minute: Weekend Edition
By Ariel Helwani
March 13, 2009
Before we head out for the weekend, here’s a look at some news and notes from around the still heart-broken world of mixed martial arts. Key words are: greasing, 100, celebration, and freak show.
MILETICH TALKS GREASING
Earlier this week, we passed along the news that BJ Penn had finally decided to file a formal complaint with the Nevada State Athletic Commission against Georges St-Pierre and his cornermen for allegedly rubbing Vaseline on the welterweight champion’s body knowingly between rounds during their UFC 94 main event. This particular case seems like the kind of issue that will never truly be resolved. However, the really issue is how does the sport, and those who govern it, prevent something like this from happening again?
Kudos to the UFC/WEC for jumping on this issue right away by implementing a rule which states that only assigned cutmen will be allowed to apply Vaseline on a fighter between rounds.
I recently asked MMA legend Pat Miletich if he thought this was a serious issue in the sport. Miletich continues to corner most of the fighters who come out his Iowa-based Miletich Fighting System. Surprisingly, he thought that “grease-gate” was much ado about nothing.
“Trust me, BJ’s face rubbing against GSP’s arm and everything else while they were battling, got way more grease on GSP then GSP’s trainer rubbing on him,” Miletich said.
“(Cornermen) have techniques for rubbing down a fighter’s thighs when they are in the corner. You know, massaging their thighs to get the lactic acid out of their legs. They massage their traps to loosen them up, rub their shoulders, too. That’s always been done in boxing. So, to me, there is going to be a lot more Vaseline coming off a guy’s face onto another guy’s body than anything else.”
Miletich added that this sort of practice happens in almost every single MMA fight.
“People don’t even think about it,” he said. “If I have Vaseline all over my face just in a boxing match, you know, when I am punching someone in a boxing match, the Vaseline gets all over my gloves. When we tie up, it gets all over a guy’s body.
“Now, imagine in a wrestling scenario with grappling and everything else going on. Your face is rubbing up all over a guy’s shoulder, all over his arms, all over his chest, all over the sides of his body when you are taking him down. There’s Vaseline all over everybody all the time. It doesn’t even matter.”
Miletich is the primary subject of a new book, entitled “Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC,” which chronicles the rise of mixed martial arts and is written by Sports Illustrated scribe, L. Jon Wertheim. I highly recommend it for any longtime MMA fan, or someone who is just getting into the sport.
MORE ON “MASK”
UFC president Dana White shared some heart-felt thoughts with The Canadian Press yesterday about the untimely passing of 45-year-old TapouT co-founder, Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr.
"It still, right now, hasn't hit me yet," White told The Canadian Press. "It's still surreal, and doesn't seem real.
"But I'm going to tell you right now, you couldn't meet a nicer guy, a more friendly, outgoing guy, a more loyal guy. He really was a good person. He's one of the pioneers, one of the legends of this sport.
"This guy was selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his car and when we first got involved with the UFC, we met them. We really liked them, we liked their energy. They were good people and we got together and we started doing all this grassroots marketing together - the UFC and Tapout. They were very loyal to us and we were very loyal to them.
"And it sucks to see a guy who has worked so hard his whole life, to finally make it and break through, and then have something like this happen to him."
The MMA community is still in shock over Lewis’ death early Wednesday morning in Newport Beach, Calif. Lewis died when the Ferrari he was driving veered off the road, hit a curb and smashed into a light pole. The accident tore the car in half. A unidentified woman passenger who was ejected from the car remains hospitalized.
Police are still deciding whether they will charge the driver of the Porsche, Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, who was traveling alongside Lewis’ Ferrari before the crash. The LA Times is reporting that Kirby is being held on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. However, the Newport Beach Police Department has yet to charge him with any crime.
Kirby has been cited in Orange County for at least eight traffic violations since 2001, which includes a drunk driving arrest in 2001.
The clothing apparel company has asked all of its fans to wear a TapouT t-shirt today to honor the memory of “Mask.” (Credit: The Canadian Press)
UFC 100 OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED
The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially announced the much-anticipated UFC 100 yesterday. The event will take place Saturday, July 11, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Dana White has said on numerous occasions that the promotion will offer something special to its loyal fans once 100 rolls around, and if the rumored card comes to fruition, he will prove to be a man of his word. Below is a look at the potential main fights on the card:
* Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves - Welterweight title fight
* Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar – Heavyweight title fight
* Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping
* Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher
* Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman
Not bad, eh? The UFC also promised to salute some of the legends that helped build the UFC, mentioning names like Coleman, Dan Severn and Royce Gracie.
FIGHTIN’ WORDS
“I’m still new to the sport with UFC 96 being the 10th fight of my entire life. I’ve never had a knockout before and it really sent an adrenaline rush through me. I felt the roar of the crowd from my fingers to my toes! I would like to wish Mark Munoz all the best… As I tried to explain in the Post Fight Press Conference. I meant no disrespect to Mark or his camp. I was caught up in the moment and have never felt the crowd react like that before. I feel vibrations when a crowd roars like that and it got me pumped. When I say it feels like bubbles in water, I mean like a hot tub! Get in a hot tub with the bubbles off and then turn them on, see if you feel a difference. That’s what it’s like for me.”
- Matt Hamill defends his celebration after knocking out Mark Munoz at UFC 96 on his official website. Earlier this week, I spoke to Munoz’s manager, Mike Roberts, and he said that he and his client had no issue with Hamill’s behavior while the medical staff in the Octagon was attending to Munoz.
FINAL SECONDS
* Updating our story from yesterday, Jake Shields will now be facing Robbie Lawler on the upcoming May Strikeforce card. They will fight at a catch weight of 182 pounds.
* The UFC announced four more additional bouts for their upcoming UFC 99 card in Cologne, Germany: Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders (welterweight), Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy (welterweight), Denis Siver vs. Dale Hartt (lightweight), and Stefan Struve vs. Denis Stojnic (heavyweight). Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin headlines the card.
* Get ready for Paul Kelly vs. Roli Delgado at UFC 99. (Credit: MMA Weekly)
* And finally, Versus.com can exclusively report that Jason Guida (17-19) will replace Ken Shamrock as Bobby Lashley’s (1-0) opponent on next weekend’s “March Badness” pay-per-view. Guida, the younger brother of UFC lightweight star Clay Guida, is best known for failing to make weight prior to his qualifying match on the eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The Florida State Boxing Commission is honoring Shamrock’s steroid suspension levied by the California State Athletic Commission earlier this week.
