Listen, I never cheated in my life. Let me tell you something, I never said something bad to B.J. Penn. I never answered back to him with what he said. I’ve always been respectful. Even after the fight I went and told him, ‘Hey, keep your head up. You can be proud. You’re a tough guy. You stayed in the ring for a long time.’ But now that he says something like that it bothers me a lot. He already said I was taking steroids, that I was a quitter, that he was blaming me for seeing a sports psychologist and now he says that I cheat because I use Vaseline.

...

First of all what happened is Phil, he put Vaseline in my face, but then after he didn’t have the Vaseline,” said St. Pierre. “After he put Vaseline in my face, he didn’t put Vaseline in my back. That’s what people don’t understand. He put one hand on my chest and he made a circle behind my back. It helps my breathing.

...

When you come back in the corner, sometimes by punching and clinching, your shoulders are stiff. So it’s good to massage the shoulders to make the blood flow, you know what I mean? To make it more loose. If you look at muay Thai fights, in muay Thai they come back in the corner to get massage[d] to make the blood circulate. It’s the same thing in MMA. You get massage[d] to make the blood flow so you’re more fresh the next round.

Georges St. Pierre talking to Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show on Wednesday. Transcript here.

NOTE: And to clarify my stance on this matter, I don't necessarily doubt GSP's word on this. I do think his corner messed up bad and should be investigated and punished (the Dana White position).

The purpose behind my writing on this issue is to cast a strong light on GSP and his corner so that they will be extra super careful in the future to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

I'm not trying to run GSP out of the sport and I'm not accusing him of being a cheater. I have rooted for him his entire career and hope to root for him in his future fights.

But he should do as he is advising B.J. Penn -- take a hard look at the things he can control -- such as his corner's behavior and use of vaseline -- and make damn sure in the future that none of that is wiped on his body by a sloppy cornerman.

This incident arose from the actions of GSP and his corner, not from the NSAC, not from Keith Kizer, not from B.J. Penn, and certainly not from Kid Nate.