Okay a couple things here.
First people need to leave their own ideals of what a Black Belt should act like at the door, every martial arts, and school and individual has a different take on it, and no one person has the right answer, so please leave your self serving definitions out of it.
second I think GSP had a huge advantage for a few reasons..
he walks around 15-20 pounds heavier then he fought at, and came in shreaded, I would bet he outweighed Penn by an easy 20 pounds, and probably 30pounds of muscle.
Penn fights naturally at a lower weight, and had to put on weight to fight at this class.
Penn has never been known for his cardio, and it was even weaker then his last few fights because he was not able to get his weight up and work his cardio as vigorously as he should have.
Both fighters are incredible at all ranges, but I think one of the ranges that there is a clear advantage is the jiu jitsu game of Penn.
given all these facts, plus...
GSP has been accused by several other fighters of being greased, and several of Jacksons other fighters have also been accused of greasing..
leads to me to believe it was in fact intentional, and also alot more then most people think.
I think the goal was to eliminate Penns ability to work his game on GSP on the ground in the early rounds and then tire him out for the later rounds..
The strategy worked to perfection. GSP dominated the fight and its now history.
I am not sure that the outcome would have been any different had GSP not greased, but the fact of the matter is he was greased to some extent, and there is enough evidence to lead an educated person to believe it was malicious and planned. Probably would never carry over in a court of law, but still it takes alot of shine of the win.
1) There is no "individual" take on how a blackbelt should act. A blackbelt acts with respect and humility...and that's from any art. Why not ask any of the other blackbelts on this forum...I'm sure they'll all tell you the same thing. No self serving definitions here...just calling it how it is, bub.
BJ's attitude sucks, and in no way represents how a blackbelt should act. GSP, on the other hand, treated BJ the same as anyone else...with respect.
Besides, it's my opinion...I'm entitled to have it and voice it...like it or not. Not sure if you're a blackbelt or not...but seeing people put themselves out in the public eye as a blackbelt and then act that way makes me wonder whether a blackbelt is understood anymore. Obviously, BJ doesn't get it....
2) I understand what you're saying about the cheating aspect. Whether or not it played a part in the win for GSP or the loss for BJ, the fact remains that they
bent the rules. I haven't seen where it's in the rules that you
can't have vasoline put on your neck and shoulders, so I'm not sure if it can technically be called cheating. But then, I'm not looking through the rules right now, so it may very well be in there. Either way, I wouldn't consider it to be "cheating". If you can't pull a decent guard because the guy has vasoline on his shoulders and neck, then you need to train more.
3) Something to consider before standing behind what BJ's saying: If it was really such a big deal to him, why didn't he say something about it during or immediately after the fight? I wonder if he would have said anything at all about it had it not been brought up to him by someone else...but then, I'm sure there would have been something else for him to whine about losing.
4) I'm not sure if we watched the same fight here, anyway...call me crazy, but it looked an awful lot like GSP had BJ on the ground a few times throughout that fight, and BJ was just not able to do anything with him...not because GSP was "slippery", but mostly due to the constant elbows and fists in BJ's face. So yeah, I would say GSP's gameplan worked...and he not only beat BJ overall, he beat him at his own game.
Like I said before, the whole thing is pointless. Realistically, it was a bad matchup. GSP is bigger, stronger, and faster. And that's not taking anything away from BJ's abilities. He's good. No one doubts that. But he was beaten by a larger and more athletic opponent. It happens all the time..and you know what happens? People move on. Shocking, I know.
BJ/GSP III is just a bad idea, grease or no grease. Like it or not, BJ got beat down by a better opponent. The grease didn't play a factor on his face getting pummeled by GSP's fists. Accept it as a loss and move on.
