It's one thing for officials and observers to weigh in on whether Rousimar Palhares holds onto his submission moves too long. When another elite fighter does it, it takes on extra gravitas.
That's what happened Monday when UFC lightweight and jiu-jitsu brown belt Joe Lauzon took to Facebook to share his opinion on the matter. Though he's not the first (or likely the last) fighter to offer a perspective on the matter, Lauzon's stands out for the detail he went into during the course of a three-minute-long video (some language NSFW) on the subject.
After analyzing six of his own submission wins and six of Palhares' (and including video clips of each one), Lauzon concluded that the average time from when the referee made contact with him to when he released the hold was 0.199 seconds. For Palhares, Lauzon found the average time was 1.074 seconds.
Lauzon observed during the video:
Once the referee touches you, you should be ready to stop. ...You're just kind of being a d--- if you keep cranking. But [Palhares] is kind of a d---. He does crank a little bit extra, pretty much every single time. ...I think it's pretty bad. I think he's being dangerous.
Palhares—who was banned from the UFC in 2013 after accusations that he repeatedly cranked submissions after his opponent tapped out and the referee had intervened—again found himself in hot water Saturday after his win over Jake Shields at World Series of Fighting 22, during which he gouged Shields' eyes and held a kimura well after Shields had tapped out.
WSOF signed Palhares almost immediately after his UFC release, and defended Palhares after the same controversy arose following his other two WSOF matches, both submission wins over Steve Carl and Jon Fitch.
But WSOF officials may now be out of patience with their reigning welterweight champion; they are expected to make an announcement Tuesday regarding the situation:
Watched the fight with Shields & Palhares. Palhares did gouge Jakes eyes & held the sub longer than needed. Ray will make announcement Tues
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) August 3, 2015
Lauzon contends in the video that, even though Palhares only holds the moves for an extra heartbeat or two, that can be more than enough to cause unnecessary pain or damage.
"I love jiu-jitsu. I think it's awesome," Lauzon said in the video. "But for me, the best thing about jiu-jitsu is the respect that's shown, not being a d--- about things, not cranking submissions and beating people and giving people a chance to stop and tap before there's real damage done. And I don't feel like he's embracing jiu-jitsu like that."
Lauzon (25-10) has 18 wins and three losses by submission as a professional MMA fighter.
