Las Vegas Weekly

May 18, 2009 · 7:05 PM

B.J. Penn finished fighting here? This is bad, how?

By John Katsilometes

No Penn, no gain.

Photo: Sam Morris

Well, B.J. Penn says he’s finished fighting in Nevada. Penn, who was thoroughly dominated by the far-stronger Georges St. Pierre in UFC 94, says in his most recent video blog, posted yesterday, that he’s not interested in fighting any longer in our state. He also says Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer “can’t be trusted. I don’t trust him in any way.” Penn is still upset, or maybe “slightly miffed” is the proper term for him based on this video, that there has been no formal ruling or closure from the commission as a result of his complaint that St. Pierre was slathered with something akin to Vaseline during St. Georges' victory on Jan. 31.

A commission meeting in March ended with no formal ruling or punishment leveled at St. Georges, and unless someone steps forward with new information, it’s likely there will ever be a consequence in this mucky case.

St. Georges' corner men, who were warned by Kizer during the bout (in which a lackluster and thoroughly dominated Penn was unable to return to the octagon carnage for the fifth round), claimed they thoughtlessly applied the forbidden substance to their fighter’s chest and torso after applying it to his face. It’s not that uncommon. This type of thing happens in massage school all the time.

Penn’s not fighting here at all, but why punish the whole state? There might be a promoter up in Winnemucca pretty eager to sign Penn to fight in the Lowry High gym. Ely’s economy could use a boost, I expect.

I’m sure, too, that lots of fans who saw the lopsided St. Georges-Penn matchup at the MGM Grand Garden Arena might have thought Penn decided to quit fighting in Nevada before the bout.

I don’t know what else to say about this, other than when you futz around with petroleum jelly, you get a real mess. It’s time to screw the top back on this jar of weirdness and move on.

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