Silva vs. Sonnen 2 Results: Is There Anything to the Talk of Silva Cheating?

It is pretty rare that discussion of a fighter attempting to bend the rules in an MMA fight necessitates a three-slide article, but Anderson Silva's performance at UFC 148 is an exception.

Three occurrences from Saturday night's main event have received attention for all the wrong reasons, and it's time to take a closer look at each one.

First, we will look at Silva's adventure with a Vaseline jar. 

Second, we'll examine Silva's holding of Chael Sonnen's shorts.

Third, we'll examine the knee that Silva landed on a grounded Sonnen, which signified the beginning of the end for the challenger. 

The Pre-Fight Vaseline Adventure

Before entering the Octagon for a UFC fight, each participating competitor has Vaseline rubbed on his face to reduce the likelihood of being cut. 

This standard procedure was, of course, part of each and every one of the contests that went down at UFC 148. 

After entering the cage, but before the fight started, Anderson Silva touched his face then rubbed his body, presumably transporting the Vaseline to his chest and arms.

The problem here is that not only does Vaseline prevent and stop bleeding, but it is also very slippery. Because of its oily texture, Vaseline is prohibited from being used on a fighter's body because it makes it difficult for an opponent to grab a hold of the covered competitor.

Does Georges St-Pierre-B.J. Penn ring any bells?

It was obvious that Silva was moving the Vaseline from his face to his body last night, but the intent is a bit less so.

For starters, Silva may have performed the action unconsciously, simply trying to remove a glob of Vaseline from his face, then later from his fingers. Of course, the natural place to do that would be on his shorts not his body.

But still, would he go ahead and try it during the pre-fight ceremonies when everyone is watching. On one hand, he probably wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. On the other hand, hiding in plain sight can be deceptively clever.

So was Silva looking for a leg up? Only he, and maybe his camp, know that. That he happened to be fighting a guy who previously dominated him for four-and-a-half rounds via wrestling and ground-and-pound is a circumstantial indication that he was conscious of what he was doing, but circumstantial evidence doesn't count for a whole lot.

But regardless, whether he was trying to cheat or not ultimately had no effect on the outcome of the fight, as referee Yves Levine noticed what Silva was doing and wiped him off with a towel before the contest began.

Holding the Shorts

This one is a bit more obvious in terms of both intent and guilt. Silva absolutely cheated by grabbing and holding Sonnen's shorts for a good 15-20 straight seconds shortly before scoring a knockout win.

So, why aren't more people crying foul? Two reasons.

First, though holding Sonnen's shorts likely helped Silva avoid being taken down, the action had no direct place in the sequence that ended the bout.

After the fighters broke, there was a brief exchange before Chael threw himself to the mat via a mega-failed spinning backfist. Because Silva holding Sonnen's shorts had no direct link to the outcome of the fight it has already become negligible in the eyes of many.

Second, fighters hold their opponents shorts all the time. It happens so frequently that it has just become part of the sport. Ultimately, it is the referee's job to prevent this from happening more than it is incumbent upon fighters not to try it. 

Sonnen was asked about Silva holding his shorts during the UFC 148 post-fight presser and had this to say:

"

Yeah, Anderson grabbed my trunks, but I grabbed his right back, man. It goes both ways and we can't sit and nit-pick some of that stuff. It's a two-man sport. It's kind of like moving the chains in football. It evens itself out. What goes around comes around. If Anderson grabbed my shorts tonight, I'll grab somebody else's down the road.

"

This is pretty well put.

Grabbing onto any part of your opponent that gives you an advantage is instinctive. It's the referee's job to stop it, not the fighter's.

Was it cheating? Technically, yes.

Did it change the outcome of the fight? Maybe. But if that's an excuse here, we need to go back and put an asterisk next to about 500 other fights. 

Hat tip to mmamania.com for posting and keeping the presser video up.

The Knee

Watching it live, it appeared that Anderson walked up to a grounded Chael Sonnen and kneed him square in the face. While an effective move, it's not legal—foot and leg strikes to the head of a downed opponent are not permitted.

However, was Silva's knee to the face of Sonnen, or to the chest?

This is what Sonnen had to say about it during the post-fight press conference:

"

You know, I don't make those decisions and hate those rules anyway. I'm an old-school guy from before we had rounds and weight-classes and all that stuff. Now, we're in a lot better spot now. I don't propose we go back to that, but I don't care about legal or illegal. I could see him coming. That's just the way it goes.

"

While the guy who received the knee (and the follow up beating) is probably not the most reliable account of the event, Sonnen's attitude is remarkably admirable.

Besides, the replay sure looks like the knee was clean.

As Dana White noted during the post-fight presser:

"

The knee was legal. The knee was legal. So we watched it on tape, the knee was legal. The ref called it legal. There's no need to talk about an illegal knee. There was no illegal knee.

"

Hat tip to mmamania.com again for getting the presser.