UFC 94 Notebook: Accusations Swarm St. Pierre
Monday, February 02, 2009
by Brian Knapp (bknapp@sherdog.com)
Welterweight champion and pound-for-pound stud Georges St. Pierre had little time to savor what many saw as a landmark performance against rival B.J. Penn at UFC 94 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
J.D. Penn, the challenger’s older brother, confirmed to Sherdog.com that a formal complaint will be filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Monday, claiming St. Pierre used a “greasing” agent during the UFC 94 main event. The 27-year-old French Canadian retained his welterweight belt with a fourth-round technical knockout.
“We are not trying to make excuses, but the NSAC needs to protect the fighters,” Penn said via text message. “They never notified us or completely wiped his back with water and towels.”
The accusation cast a cloud of suspicion over St. Pierre after he dismantled the popular Hawaiian in a one-sided, four-round affair. Controversy deepened in the hours after the news broke. In an interview with InsideFighting.com on Sunday, Penn’s head coach, Rudy Valentino, claimed St. Pierre used similar tactics the first time the two fought in 2006. Valentino also indicated the camp of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra alleged St. Pierre did the same in their April 2008 rematch.
If the NSAC clears St. Pierre of wrongdoing, his latest conquest will likely stand as one of his crowning achievements. Never had Penn been so thoroughly beaten.
“I knew I broke him mentally in the first round,” St. Pierre said. “It was my gameplan. I stuck to it. My gameplan was to make the first round and the second round a clinch [war] and mostly like a wrestling match.”
As each round passed, St. Pierre dug deeper into Penn’s defenses, as he neutralized the Hawaiian’s considerable stand-up skills, forced him to his back and hammered away at him on the grown. St. Pierre leaned on Penn from the start, as he pressed him against the cage and sucked the energy from his 168-pound frame. Keenly aware of Penn’s penchant for fast starts, St. Pierre made sure to establish himself early in the fight.
“B.J. Penn, when he comes out, he always comes out strong in the first round because he’s got very good hand speed,” he said. “So I wanted to make him tired, to carry my weight.”
By rounds three and four, Penn was visibly discouraged, his pace labored. St. Pierre scored at will with takedowns and passed the former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion’s guard with stunning ease. His relentless ground-and-pound -- punches, elbows and knees -- also took a heavy toll on Penn, whose head and body were often exposed in side control.
“He’s a very tough guy,” St. Pierre said. “Even at the end of the fourth round, I was mad. I was trying to finish him … hard, but he always survived. I’m not surprised. I was expecting that.”
At the conclusion of round four, Penn had nothing more to give, and his corner motioned for the cage-side doctor to stop the fight. Afterward, St. Pierre focused on his drive and dedication to develop all his skills.
“People talk about stand-up and this and that,” he said. “It’s a mixed martial arts fight.”
St. Pierre thinks his takedown prowess enhanced his striking skills against Penn, a man some believe to be the premier boxer in the sport. Penn’s lethal jab, which he used to pick apart Sean Sherk at UFC 84, was never a factor.
“I knew he was afraid of my wrestling, so it made my stand-up look a little better maybe,” St. Pierre said. “I’m very confident with my stand-up now. I box with world champion boxers and former world champion boxers in Montreal, so I’m in very good hands.”
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