Anderson Silva

Though Anderson Silva’s alleged greasing went unnoticed by most fans until after the UFC 97 main event, referee Yves Lavigne not only noticed the Vaseline on Silva’s chest and arms but wiped it off and received approval from Leites’ corner before starting the contest.

After several days of speculation, Lavigne confirmed his actions with Sherdog on Tuesday:

“I saw he had a little Vaseline on his chest and I wiped it from his chest and arms, as I saw him touching them as well,” Lavigne told Sherdog.com on Tuesday.

Lavigne said he then motioned to Leites’ corner and was given a “thumbs up” of approval.

“I took care of it, and the other corner felt OK with it,” said Lavigne.

“While I wiped one glove, Silva took the end of the towel and wiped his other glove. He was helping me,” Lavigne said. “Both corners were aware of it and approved [of] it.”

Victor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, who was in Leites’ corner for the UFC 97 headliner, affirmed Lavigne’s recollection of what transpired on Saturday in Montreal:

“I remember Yves Lavigne toweled and cleaned the body. I don’t think [the cutman] put a lot of grease on his face and [Silva] put it on his body. I think everything was pretty fair.”

For more UFC 97 coverage check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC 97 archive.

Episode 5

In the hours immediately following the fight, several comments were left of MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 97 results stating that Silva had cheated by transferring Vaseline from his face to his body before the fight started.

SI.com’s Josh Gross confirmed the incident in his UFC 97 play-by-play, writing “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.”

The headliner featured nearly no fighting on the ground as Silva wisely refused to follow Leites to the canvas despit many tries by the challenger. Leites would simply fall to the ground in an attempt to bait Silva down but nearly every titme the title-holder would refuse, forcing referee Yves Lavigne to stand Leites up 14 times over the course of the contest. The main event featured no opportunities for the Vaseline to play a role in deciding the bout, but the evidence is pretty damning.

(video via Bloody Elbow)

“I can honestly tell you that I’ve never put on an event that I was embarrassed to be at until tonight. I want to publicly apologize to all the fans. I apologize. I personally apologize for what happened tonight. You guys know, this isn’t what the UFC was built on and this isn’t the way the fights usually go. Listen, any night you can have an off-night. When a guy is that talented and can literally end a fight whenever he wants to, wow. We’ve got to do something. Watching that was hard. That was tough to take. It was embarrassing, honestly. It was really and truly embarrassing.”

Chuck Liddell

• UFC 97 drew an official attendance of 21,451 for a live gate of $4.9 million. If confirmed, the crowd would be the largest in North American MMA history.
• Sam Stout’s unanimous decision victory over Matt Wiman was “Fight of the Night”, Krzysztof Soszynski’s first-round kimura submission of Brian Stann was “Submission of the Night”, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s first-round TKO of Chuck Liddell earned “Knockout of the Night”. Stout, Wiman, Soszynski, and Rua each earned $70,000 for their UFC 97 performances.
• If Georges St-Pierre defeats Thiago Alves in July he could fight Anderson Silva in Toronto.
• Chuck Liddell is done fighting, according to UFC president Dana White, who effectively announced the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s retirement and confirmed he’ll instead assume a new role with the company.
• White said he wasn’t sure if David Loiseau will get another opportunity in the UFC, but that he is a really nice guy and he’ll consult Joe Silva before making a decision on Loiseau’s future with the promotion.
• White also said that Cheick Kongo is a serious contender for the heavyweight belt and is in the mix for a future title shot.
• Sam Stout said he arrived at the arena at 5pm and basically did a six hour warmup after his fight was pushed back from the first fight of the event to the next-to-last bout.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Anderson Silva defeated Thales Leites via unanimous decision in the UFC 97 main event on Saturday in Montreal, Canada in a fight that will be remembered as one of the most uneventful in UFC history. In the co-headliner, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua likely retired Chuck Liddell with a first-round knockout.

The event’s official results were:

• Anderson Silva (c) def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:28
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) — Round 1, 3:53
• Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:29
• Luis Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:27
• Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:57
• TJ Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete UFC 97: Redemption play-by-play click here to check out our UFC 97 live blog replay.

The 12-bout event will get underway at 7:30pm ET with a 7-fight unaired preliminary card followed by 5 televised bouts, including Silva-Leites and Liddell-Rua.

Join MMAFrenzy.com beginning at 7:30pm ET for live results and main card play-by-play.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Anderson Silva (c) def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:28
• Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) — Round 1, 3:53
• Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:29
• Luis Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:27
• Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:57
• TJ Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
• Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

PLAY-BY-PLAY

• 185: Anderson Silva (c) (182) vs. Thales Leites (185)
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• 205 Chuck Liddell (206) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (206)
• 265: Cheick Kongo (232) vs. Antoni Hardonk (249)
• 205: Luis Cane (206) vs. Steve Cantwell (205)
• 205: Krzysztof Soszynski (204) vs. Brian Stann (206)

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)

• 185: Vinicius Magalhaes (204) vs. Eliot Marshall (205)
• 185: Xavier Foupa-Pokam (185) vs. Denis Kang (185)
• 185: Jason MacDonald (186) vs. Nate Quarry (186)
• 185: Ed Herman (186) vs. David Loiseau (185)
• 155: David Bielkheden (157) vs. Mark Bocek (154)
• 170: Ryo Chonan (171) vs. T.J. Grant (169)
• 155: Sam Stout (155) vs. Matt Wiman (155)

Note: Non-championship fighters can weigh-in one pound over their respective weight class limit.

The venue will then host Saturday’s pay-per-view event, which is headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites and Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com all weekend long for complete UFC 97 coverage, including weigh-in results, live event coverage, and post-fight news.

The complete UFC 97 lineup features:

MAIN CARD (televised)

• Anderson Silva (c) vs. Thales Leites
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
• Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
• Luis Cane vs. Steve Cantwell

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)

• Vinicius Magalhaes vs. Eliot Marshall
• Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Denis Kang
• Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry
• Ed Herman vs. David Loiseau
• David Bielkheden vs. Mark Bocek
• Ryo Chonan vs. T.J. Grant
• Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman

Also, as a reminder, the UFC’s preview show for the event, Countdown to UFC 97, debuts tonight at 11pm ET on Spike TV.

For the latest UFC rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

The official lineup features:

MAIN CARD (televised)

• Anderson Silva (c) vs. Thales Leites
  UFC Middleweight Championship
• Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
• Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
• Luis Cane vs. Steve Cantwell

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)

• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Eliot Marshall
• Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Denis Kang
• Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry
• Ed Herman vs. David Loiseau
• David Bielkheden vs. Mark Bocek
• Ryo Chonan vs. T.J. Grant
• Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman