Video footage of Austin Trout getting his shoulders greased up between rounds has Diego Sanchez calling for legal action … and a mixed-rules rematch.
As if putting Diego Sanchez in a bare-knuckle boxing bout against former boxing champion Austin Trout wasn’t bad enough, now Trout is being accused of cheating after cameras caught his corner applying Vaseline to his shoulders.
Trout routed Sanchez handily on Friday night at BKFC Knucklemania 3 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After four rounds of bloody combat, the ringside physician waved off the bout due to numerous cuts on Sanchez’s face (watch the highlights here).
Now Sanchez is calling foul and stating he’ll get his lawyers involved over what happened during the fight.
“First of all I didn’t get any Vaseline put on me!” Sanchez wrote in an Instagram Reel. “Secondly, I did feel that Vaseline all on his shoulder and his neck during the fight, it was put on so heavy I could not utilize the clinch this is cheating everybody so with that being said, I am the victorious champion and I count this as a win.”
“Hopefully we can get the decision overturned,” he continued. “I will be talking with my lawyer soon. @davidfeldmanbkfc @swfightnews @bareknuckle @mmajunkie god always has my back what a relief walking down the mountain to this news.”
Sanchez added another Instagram post with video footage showing Trout getting Vaseline’d up, including a healthy slather on his neck and shoulders.
“And maybe this was just pure coincidence that I said publicly my game plan was to get inside grab his neck MMA style and work from that position! I’m not baring false witness on any one Trout or Bare Knuckle FC or G the guy doing it. but the facts are it happened.”
“And when I decided to take this fight I knew Austin was top notch boxer with a longer reach the main reason I said yes to the fight was my chances in the clinch due to the fact he was used to boxing gloves and the clinch would be new to him giving me my advantage and him his! A fair fight not in MMA not in boxing but in a middle place!”
“[BKFC president] David Feldman was nothing but love and respect and we broke all standing BKFC records attendance and on the app. So maybe it was coincidence but like I said there was no one rubbing Vaseline on my neck or my beard and trust me my jaw is sore today I still have not ate solid food yet I could have used some Vaseline on my beard.”
“I have spoke I hope the truth comes out because that was not Fair Play! I’m at the end of the career not done but I feel the end on the horizon. I hope my fans support me in getting justice how bout we do a rematch in MMA so I can get my justice. In Jesus name I pray for justice and truth so that whomever messed up should be held accountable for I took a lot of hits with no gloves.”
“If the tables were turned and I bloodied up Austin and a tape came out with me having my neck and full beard being heavily lubed with Vaseline! And I promise you I felt that Vaseline when my fingers slipped unnaturally off his neck when I did get there!”
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old fashioned greasing scandal to write about. The UFC took matters into their own hands following a quick spate of controversies in 2013, hiring their own cutmen to apply Vaseline properly to each corner in MMA fights.
Based on what we witnessed in the four rounds between Trout and Sanchez, we doubt greasing was the deciding factor in the bout. That doesn’t change the fact that Trout was getting his shoulders lubricated up, and that would have affected Sanchez’s ability to tie up and clinch.
We’ll keep you posted on what the New Mexico commission and Bare Knuckle FC have to say about this incident.