"The message boards I read, the St. Pierre fans are saying this is an overreaction, it's not a big deal and BJ is making excuses and the BJ Penn fans are saying this is horrible and everybody involved should be suspended. I think they're both being fanaticalÂ…They're sticking by their fighter, which is a good thing, but I think one is overreacting and one is underreacting," stated Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer as he spoke about the recent Vaseline controversy in the St. Pierre vs. Penn rematch. Check what he had to say about that as well as his thoughts on the hand wrap controversy in Mosley vs. Margarito.
PC: I know you're a busy guy so I definitely appreciate your time.
KK: Yeah, no problem.
PC: UFC 94 seemed to be in the books until this controversy came out about St. Pierre's corner using Vaseline on his body. What is your take on the situation?
KK: Well, what we've done was subsequent to the event, I got a copy of the cameraman's shots of the St. Pierre corner in between the rounds so I will take a look at that. I also got a letter from the Penn camp and I will send it to the St. Pierre camp to get their response. So we're just basically collecting information right now and gathering information. We will look into everything that happened fight night and it will take its due course.
PC: So the Penn camp did file a formal protest?
KK: No, no! They just sent us a letter; a letter complaining about the actions that occurred that night.
PC: Did you spot something going on in the corner or did someone inform you?
KK: What happened was at the beginning of the 2nd round, one of the guys who was on the outside of the Octagon came up to me and said that it appeared that one of the cornerman had wiped some Vaseline on St. Pierre's shoulders and back after the 1st round. So with the 2nd round ahead, I watched and it appeared they went to do that again, inadvertently or otherwise. So myself and the chief inspector tried to yell at the St. Pierre camp to stop it, but they couldn't hear us because it was very noisy in there. So I ended up going into the Octagon and I still had to yell because it was so noisy in there. I asked what were they doing? I told them they couldn't put Vaseline on his back and we wiped it off and we wiped him off at the end of the 3rd round as well just to play it safe. It's just an unfortunate situation.
PC: Matt Hughes has come out since this incident and said Georges felt a little slippery in some of his fights with him. Are you guys just investigating this fight or previous fights as well?
KK: I'm just reviewing the St. Pierre/Penn fight right now. I don't know anything about Matt Hughes complaining about his encounters with St. Pierre.
PC: We have a lot of boxing guys who read our site so just to clear any confusion, it is legal to rub Vaseline on the body in boxing, but not in mixed martial arts. Right?
KK: Right, right! Any amount on the body is excessive in mixed martial arts, but in boxing, not necessarily so. I mean, you could put too much on even in boxing. You don't want a guy to get hit and then it transfers from the glove to the eye with a punch; the same with MMA with Vaseline to the face. You want to make sure that they don't put too much on and it falls off and gets into a guy's eyes or gets on a guy's glove and into a guy's eyes and things like that. You probably want to put it on a guy's back in boxing or kickboxing because of rope burns that could occur, but in mixed martial arts, you can't have that. It is excessive. In fact, any to the body is excessive. The guys know that.
PC: That's the thing. Georges has seemed to play by the rules his entire career. He denies that he's a cheater. Do you think this is a situation where the fighter was put in a bad spot by his corner?
KK: I don't know. You always hope that any violation is inadvertent or accidental; either a foul by a fighter during the fight or something done by a cornerman. But I don't know. I can't speak yet on this one. I could tell you that I've never had any issues with Mr. St. Pierre or anyone in his camp. It's unfortunate for both fighters that this is the story instead of the fight itself.
PC: It's definitely kind of overshadowing this defining fight for GSP. Is this a first for you Keith?
KK: Yeah! I know it's happened in other states and jurisdictions. I know there was an issue in a Melvin Guillard fight, but I forget what state or jurisdiction it was in with the Vaseline. So it is something that we watch for and it's something that's out there as a concern. Everyone is well aware of the problem that you could have if this occurs, but we've never had a situation like that at any fight level; especially a fight of this magnitude.
PC: I see people on the message boards thinking this is something that's being blown way out of proportion, but you guys are taking this seriously, correct?
KK: The message boards I read, the St. Pierre fans are saying this is an overreaction, it's not a big deal and BJ is making excuses and the BJ Penn fans are saying this is horrible and everybody involved should be suspended. I think they're both being fanatical. That's obviously where the term "fans" comes from. They're sticking by their fighter, which is a good thing, but I think one is overreacting and one is underreacting. But again, you could do that. That's the beauty of being a fan.
PC: I know this is more of a California issue, but what did you think of the Antonio Margarito hand wrapping situation before his fight with Shane Mosley?
KK: Obviously very serious allegations, but right now, they're just allegations. I know the Nevada Athletic Commission, as well as every other commission, is watching it very closely to see what comes out of California. We want to find out, when it's all concluded, what happened because again, it's a very serious allegation.
PC: Take away the controversy at the end of the St. Pierre/Penn fight. Were you surprised how GSP dominated the fight?
KK: The thing about mixed martial arts is there are so many ways to win and so many ways to lose. It's such a complex sport. You gotta know boxing, kickboxing, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and probably a few other things. It makes it very exciting and we've had plenty of mega-fights in Nevada and we'll have plenty more in the months to come. One thing you know about a mega-fight is someone really good is going to lose. I don't think it takes anything away from Mr. Penn. He was not the victor that night, but he's still an amazing fighter. And you can't take anything away from Mr. St. Pierre either. Going into that fight, he had quite a bit of success in the welterweight division. It was an amazing matchup and it came out the way it came out.
PC: I think you do an amazing job out there in Nevada; keep up the good work. Is there anything you want to say in closing my man?
KK: No, just look forward to these next big events we have here. Every event is a big one. We'll try to get as many events as we can here in Nevada so the fighters will have the opportunity to earn a living.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]