Middleweight contender Derek Brunson believes UFC 208 opponent Anderson Silva used a substance to make his body slippery when they met in February.

Derek Brunson accused Anderson Silva of greasing when they met at UFC 208 this past February.

The UFC middleweight contender said he thinks the former longtime champion “was definitely a little lubed up” in the Brooklyn fight, which Brunson lost by controversial decision.

Greasing is generally the act of using a substance — often a skin oil — to make one’s body slippery, which makes it more difficult for the opponent to land a takedown or grapple.

“Every time I grabbed him he was just slipping out of everything, and his takedown defense was really good that night,” Brunson told MMA Latest News. “I was definitely curious to know why he was very slippery, which I definitely think he had some kind of substance on his body. He knows I’m a wrestler, obviously. He’s an old, savvy veteran, so he was definitely trying to play all the rules and be very strategic, and make it harder for a wrestler to grab him.

“When I grab guys in the clinch, it’s very tough for them to get away and I’m pretty good with my Greco takedown. He was pretty much pulling through my clinch when I had a tight grip on him, and if you have some kind of substance on your body it’s easy to pull them.”

Silva’s team did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday evening.

Prior to his above further explanation, Brunson sent a tweet to upcoming opponent Lyoto Machida, warning him not to put “cooking oil” on himself like his teammate, Silva.

But ultimately, Brunson isn’t concerned about the possibility of Machida greasing as well when he faces the former 205-pound titleholder in the UFC Fight Night 119 main event in Sao Paulo, Brazil this weekend.

“I’m not too worried, but like I said, I put it out there because I know they’re friends and I know, obviously, that’s kind of what the guys do when they know they’re fighting a wrestler,” Brunson said. “They want to lube their body up really good to make it hard to grab hold; Anderson did a great job defending my takedowns. It’s because he was all greased up, so he was able to stop a lot of them.”

Brunson rebounded from a two-fight skid, which also included a knockout loss to now-interim champ Robert Whittaker in November 2016, with a vicious stoppage over Daniel Kelly this past summer.

He welcomes Machida back to the cage this Saturday for the first time since June 2015 when “The Dragon” was stopped by Yoel Romero. Machida failed a drug test for 7-keto-dehydroepiandrosterone in early 2016 and was subsequently pulled from a scheduled Dan Henderson matchup and given an 18-month suspension.