The World Series of Fighting promotion brought out several of its biggest names, old and new, for WSOF 9, held Saturday in Las Vegas.
Rousimar Palhares, who was banned from the UFC last fall amid allegations he held onto a dangerous submission hold for too long, didn't even need half a round to submit Steve Carl with his patented heel hook and take the WSOF welterweight title in his debut for the promotion.
But the Palhares win was, again, met with some controversy on social media. He appeared to hold the heel hook once again for just a beat longer than was necessary. Fighters are coached to maintain a submission hold until the referee stops the fight, but referee Yves Lavigne seemed compelled to push for an extra instant on Palhares, who in turn appeared to ignore Carl's tapping hand.
In any event, Palhares won the fight and the title, and he moves to 16-5 as a pro.
You need your eyes examined if you think Palhares broke the hold as soon as Yves touched him. Yves struggled at first attempt.
— FrontRowBrian (@FrontRowBrian) March 30, 2014
Palhares was still going 300% on that sub when Lavigne stepped in. After two Carl taps. Given his history, it looked bad to me. #wsof
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 30, 2014
In the evening's co-main event, bantamweight phenom Marlon Moraes continued to steamroll, winning his seventh straight bout and becoming the first man to don the WSOF bantamweight strap with a dominant decision win over Josh Rettinghouse.
Moraes hurt Rettinghouse with punches and then leg kicks. Down the stretch, Rettinghouse had difficulty moving and even standing, falling to the mat more than once in pain and in the vain hope of initiating a ground exchange. While it seemed the referee or Rettinghouse's corner could have justifiably ended the bout, he continued to the final horn.
Doctor and ref check on Rettinghouse in the corner again. And send him back out along w/ his corner. Because MMA
— Brent Brookhouse (@brentbrookhouse) March 30, 2014
Palhares wasn't the only UFC veteran making his WSOF debut Saturday. Yushin Okami was in the same boat, and he made the most of a fairly easy matchup by submitting Svetlozar Savov via second-round choke-out. Okami spent much of the bout to that point in full mount, and the fight was never seriously in question.
Also on the main card, Josh Burkman returned to the winner's circle after losing to Carl in October for the vacant WSOF welterweight title. Burkman landed a heavy lead right hook that dropped well-regarded youngster Tyler Stinson and then closed him out by swooping down with a single ground strike that shut off Stinson's lights.
That was the classic "take this one with ya" from Burkman.
— Duane Finley (@DuaneFinleyMMA) March 30, 2014
Here are the full results from the evening:
Main Card
| Division | Fighters and Result | Method |
| Middleweight | Rousimar Palhares def. Steve Carl | Submission (heel hook), 1:09, Rd. 1 |
| Bantamweight | Marlon Moraes def. Josh Rettinghouse | Unanimous decision |
| Middleweight | Yushin Okami def. Svetlozar Savov | Submission (arm-triangle choke), 4:46, Rd. 2 |
| Welterweight | Josh Burkman def. Tyler Stinson | KO, 2:15, Rd. 1 |
| Lightweight | Jonathan Nunez def. Ozzy Dugulubgov | Split decision |
Preliminary Card
| Division | Fighters and Result | Method |
| Featherweight | Mike Corey def. Shane Kruchten | Submission (rear-naked choke), 2:59, Rd. 2 |
| Bantamweight | Bryson Hansen def. Sean Cantor | TKO, 0:46, Rd. 1 |
| Featherweight | Chris Gruetzemacher def. John Gunderson | Unanimous decision |
| Featherweight | Brenson Hansen def. Boostayre Nefarios | Unanimous decision |
| Welterweight | Danny Davis def. Phil Dace | Unanimous decision |
| Lightweight | Jimmy Spicuzza def. Gil Guardado | Submission (rear-naked choke), 3:14, Rd. 1 |
