Throughout the years, the same question gets asked online time and time again which is if greasing actually happens in BJJ, and whether it’s legal. For those wondering, greasing is the act where a competitor applies lubricant to their body in order to lessen friction and be harder to grip. This creates an unfair advantage as they can grip their opponent without being gripped themselves. If you think about no gi, when people start sweating, they naturally get harder to hold which means escapes and certain passes become easier. With this in mind, here is a brief history of greasing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Table of Contents
Firstly, is greasing legal in BJJ?
Under IBJJF rules, greasing is illegal in both the gi and no gi.
This ruleset falls under the 6.2.3 Severe foul category and is as follows:
“When an athlete applies creams, oils, gels or any slippery substance to any part of the body.”
“When the athlete utilizes any substance that increase the adherence in any part of his/her body.”
“When the athlete utilizes any substance that makes the kimono slippery for the grips.”
As shown, there is no place for greasing under the IBJJF ruleset. ADCC also states that competitors cannot grease and that it is illegal. In both formats, greasing should lead to a DQ. Of course, it is often the rules on the day who make the decisions and at smaller competitions this can be less consistent.
So, do people grease in BJJ?
According to various internet forums and posts, yes it does go on. However, it’s also incredibly rare and the average competitor will never go against a greased up opponent. Apparently greasing is more common in wrestling which makes sense given it’s completely without the gi. In some cases, practitioners have mentioned facing greased opponents who even got away with it due to bad refereeing even if it was blatant.
In one video, Rorion Gracie once referenced someone greasing up. Ironically, he claimed this was the eventual downfall of the competitor as it allowed them to be choked with ease. Due to the slippy nature of their neck, the hand was slipped underneath their throat with less effort than usual which lead to a choking submission. Having said this, typically greasing will usually favor the athlete who has greased themselves.
Accusations of greasing against GSP
Georges St Pierre is arguably the greatest of all time when it comes to MMA. The UFC legend won titles and was possibly one of the most complete fighters when it came to combining various martial arts to create his style. Nonetheless, the internet is still awash with accusations of greasing from GSP. At UFC 194, GSP beat BJ Penn who later asked for an investigation into greasing which he blamed his loss on.
However, there is no firm evidence to claim this actually happened and most of it was down to the word of Penn and a GSP’s cornerman rubbing vaseline onto GSP during the breaks. This is a normal thing that happens during all fight breaks to stop cuts and bleeding. Visually at least, he didn’t look any different to a normal fighters body. Not only this but he also would have had to get into the cage unchecked which seems unlikely, especially as this wasn’t the early days of UFC either.
Rene Lopez vs Joao Miyao – Lopez gets DQ’d for greasing
This was a concrete example of where greasing ended in a DQ. During a no gi worlds 2016 match, Rene Lopez fought Joao Miyao. Here, Miyao seemed to struggle gripping onto Lopez and eventually the match was stopped. Miyao was visibly annoyed and agitated, which lead to the ref physically checking Lopez’s body. After this, Lopez was disqualified.
Afterwards, Lopez said on Instagram “This morning I put hand lotion on as I do every morning, but this morning was not “any” morning it was the day of the no gi worlds. In the handbook it clearly states that no creams, gels or any substance on the skin is allowed. I did make the mistake, so I would like to apologize to all of my fellow competitors and training partners.“
Whether this was done intentionally remains to be seen, but the match went down in history for the wrong reasons. Miyao went on to claim silver whilst Lopez earned bronze. The video can be seen below.
