12:18 a.m.: The champion enters the cage after a coat of Vaseline is slathered on his face. I’m sorry to say this, but it was pretty obvious that Silva took his hands, wiped down his face and rubbed his chest and arms. Something to remember if Silva easily, and repeatedly, slips out of Leites’ grasp.
And here’s the video evidence:
Well, that’s certainly obvious. He took the vaseline from his face and wiped it on his chest and arms repeatedly. I’m not sure if anything will come of this, but it happened.
UPDATE: After repeatedly watching this video, two thoughts come to mind:
- This is a far more blatant attempt to grease than GSP’s incident was. Silva made a conscious decision to turn away from the official in the ring while taking the vaseline from his face and rubbing it on his body and arms. There’s no doubt about what Silva was doing here.
- I don’t think anything is going to come of it. The original Greasegate scandal was far bigger than it needed to be, mostly due to the whining nature of B.J. Penn and his crew. Thales Leites will likely never say anything about this, so there won’t be any official complaints filed. That being said, someone should punish Silva for this – whether it’s an athletic commission or Zuffa – because this was incredibly blatant.
