Washington athletic commission not concerned with Ben Henderson's toothpick

UFC Lightweight Ben Henderson had a fantastic performance at UFC On Fox 5 in his title defense against Nate Diaz. Henderson dominated Diaz through the 25 minute bout and he did it all with a toothpick in his mouth. In the post-fight interview, Joe Rogan asked Ben about having the toothpick to which the champ replied, "No, that would be dangerous", but it became clear at the press conference that he definitely had.

Speculation began immediately regarding how the Washington athletic commission would respond to the champ bringing a foreign object into the cage with him. Brent Okamoto of ESPN.com revealed their decision Monday on Twitter:

Statement from Washington commission on Toothpickgate: We will not be investigating. We do not have any rules that address a toothpick.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 10, 2012

While I'm sure it's true that Washington doesn't have anything in the rulebook that relates specifically to toothpicks, they do have it clearly stated what a fighter and his corner are allowed to bring to the Octagon. The idea that there's no need to even address the issue because there's nothing in the books that reads "no toothpicks" is borderline laughable. As Luke Thomas pointed out, Henderson's decision to have the toothpick in the cage was potentially dangerous for himself and his opponent and that's certainly worth the commission's time.