Austin Trout is not happy with some of the chatter following his Bare Knuckle FC debut.
Although the former WBA boxing champion successfully made his transition to bareknuckle last Friday at BKFC KnuckleMania 3 in Albuquerque, N.M., some people are accusing him to have cheated. Trout was accused by opponent Diego Sanchez, who lost by doctor’s stoppage, to have greased for the fight, making him hard to get a hold of.
Trout finds Sanchez’s accusations to be ridiculous.
“Cap, super cap,” Trout told MMA Junkie Radio. “… To say that I cheated is bogus. I didn’t cheat. There’s no clear lines that talk about Vaseline. We didn’t do anything in the box away from anyone, and we didn’t come out trying to hide anything. Everything was done right there in front of everyone.
“If anyone had a problem with it, they should’ve talked about it then. After the fight, Diego, I was right there with him. You know the reason he said why he couldn’t clinch? Out of his own mouth before he saw a video that suggested I was cheating. It wasn’t his idea. It was a video that gave him this idea that I was cheating, which I was very aggravated about.
“He said the reason why he couldn’t clinch was because of the speed and the foot work. That was the reason why he couldn’t clinch.”
Trout confirmed he did apply Vaseline prior and during the fight. However, he was inspected by BKFC officials prior to entering ring. He said it’s a common practice in the boxing world.
‘In boxing, we put Vaseline over everywhere,” Trout explained. “In MMA, they have a certain amount that they allow. I don’t know what that is, but they check you right at the front. Over here they checked us at the front, and it was fine. We got in there and whatever we put on in between rounds because we do just like he did.
“He said he didn’t get none, but we have footage that he got Vaseline before and in between the rounds. If his corner didn’t put enough, that’s his corner’s fault. And if they didn’t like how much Vaseline I put on, then they should’ve checked me, but they didn’t. … And again, I didn’t put excessive Vaseline, because even in boxing they don’t allow excessive Vaseline. They make you wipe it off if it’s too much.”
Trout is happy with his performance and his experience debuting in bareknuckle boxing. He wants to return and continue down that path. However, he does admit he is partly annoyed that some of the attention from his win is being shined on Sanchez’s comments.
“It’s just annoying honestly,” Trout said. “At first, I was like, ‘You can’t be serious.’ But then there’s a bunch of, well, I think they’re bots because most of them have less than 100 followers (on social media) and a lot of them are private with no pictures, but they’re talking big head.
“It didn’t sour the victory, because he didn’t get close enough to touch me. Let’s just keep it above. The Vaseline had nothing to do with nothing.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for BKFC Knucklemania 3.
