Former middleweight UFC champion Michael Bisping has revealed a rule-bending tactic that some competitors use to their advantage.
Bisping recently described five situations in which the UFC’s regulations had to be changed. Bisping touched on the topics of low blows, speedos in the Octagon, 12-to-6 elbows, and forbidding opponents from tossing each other over the fence. He also brought up the usage of vaseline inside the Octagon.
Vaseline may be a kryptonite for MMA pros and grapplers in the ring. To use such techniques against an opponent, one needs a strong grasp and static strength. Effective grasping is rapidly rendered useless if the opponent is slippery from Vaseline.
On his channel, Bisping explained the benefits of using Vaseline in the octagon. He disclosed that he had spoken to other fighters about their techniques. One such technique is applying a lot of vaseline in the days leading up to the match. On fight night, a lot of that Vaseline will leak out of the pores as the fighter starts to perspire. This will make it difficult for the opponent to grab a hold of them.
“Trying to control a fighter covered in sweat who’s also applied like a lubricant like a Vaseline, that’s damn near impossible! And that’s why a lot of fighters in the history of mixed martial arts have tried to do [so].”
“In fact, I’ve been present speaking to people, other fighters where they’ve told me some of their methods. They used to say ‘What I do is I apply Vaseline to my body 2, 3 days before, I allow it to soak in and then afterwards I shower so it feels like there’s nothing there, and then in the fight when you start sweating, it comes out.”
Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn had their second encounter at UFC 94. Four rounds into the match, BJ Penn called it quits and filed a complaint to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. According to him, GSP had too much vaseline on his body for the match to be fair.
Greasing has become somewhat of a hot topic in grappling because BJJ ace Gordon Ryan alleged his opponent was using lotion in order to prevent himself from getting submitted. Ryan went on to claim that greasing was a bigger infarction than PEDs.