More free advertising for Vaseline: the Wrestling Observer was first to report that Japanese fighter Mitsuhiro Ishida, who was stopped in the third round by Strikeforce interim lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez on Saturday, is alleging that Melendez was lubricated. A representative for Ishida has spoken with the California State Athletic Commission.
You couldn’t make a more ambiguous charge if you tried: there’s no definitive way to prove Melendez was oiled up or not, and the cursory check made by officials prior to the fight wouldn’t spot any kind of grease applied that only seeps when the body begins sweating. It’s a lose/lose proposition for Ishida, who will either be A). unable to offer concrete evidence if he’s telling the truth, or B). be viewed as sore loser if he isn’t. And there were a handful of times where Melendez stuffed Ishida’s shots so expertly that Ishida didn’t even get a leg to lose control of.
Next on the Commission’s agenda: mandatory full-body scuba suits. And now you know whom to thank.
Update 3 p.m. ET: Reached via email, Melendez’ manager and father, Gilbert Melendez, Senior, said: “I can assure [you that] being with my son in the locker room at all times with a state commissioner present and by his side also at all times that such allegations are completely false.”