I do not think that it is appropriate to start trying to throw people under the bus when certain pre-established protocols were not followed. I clearly stated during the rules meeting that “if something you do not agree with or outside the realm of what is normal happens, have a calm representative from your team approach Joe Esposito, the unpaid event arbitrator, that night and voice your complaint. Mr. Esposito will then determine if the complaint has merit, talk to appropriate parties and render a decision.” After speaking with Mr. Esposito today he assures me that nobody ever spoke to him in regards to this issue.

The whole reason for having an arbitrator is for situations just like this. There is a difference between yelling out a complaint like “he’s greasing like BJ Penn” at the referee and having a teammate go to the arbitrator and say “we have a serious concern that that particular fighter is using vaseline unfarily/illegally.” I was told after the fight to “check his gloves” which I immediately did, then reported back that I found no grease and assumed the issue was settled.

I’m sorry that this has become such an issue and we always want to ensure that the right thing happens. In the future, if a team has a concern, please formally issue a complaint to whoever the governing body is THAT EVENING. Because unfortunately the more time that passes, the more difficult it is to gather information.

The ref should have had a towel available and should have checked both fighters before both rounds. end of story.