Rousimar Palhares is no longer the World Series of Fighting welterweight champion. The announcement came via WSOF President Ray Sefo who appeared on Tuesday's edition of The MMA Hour.
Sefo just announced that Palhares has been stripped of his belt and suspended indefinitely. http://t.co/ltcipwwDta
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 4, 2015
In regard to the eye gouges that Palhares inflicted on Jake Shields, Sefo said (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com), "Not only did he do it once or twice, he did it numerous times. And he was warned by the referee on four different occasions."
Sefo went on to tell The MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani that their organization will wait on a possible suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission before deciding how long their stripped champ will be kept out.
This comes as little surprise. Immediately after the event, WSOF matchmaker Ali Abdelaziz was visibly downtrodden while explaining that the Nevada State Athletic Commission was withholding Palhares' win bonus, a sign of what is likely an impending punishment. This was followed by an ominous tweet on Monday, hinting at the announcement to come.
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
Palhares scored a controversial submission win over MMA veteran Shields on Saturday. Shields dominated the first two rounds using his strong grappling, with Palhares' only defense coming in the form of alleged scratching at Shields' eyes. When the bell sounded for the third, however, Shields was visibly tired. Repeated takedown attempts eventually led to a beautiful sweep into a kimura from Palhares.
Shields would quickly tap, but Palhares would continue torquing his arm as referee Steve Mazzagatti attempted to end the fight.
Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields #WSOF22 Palhares fight ends in controversy as always https://t.co/C5uwlyyS8i
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) August 2, 2015
It's familiar territory for Palhares. Toquinho was cut from the UFC following multiple instances of holding onto submissions too long. Even before joining the UFC, however, he had already built up a reputation as a dirty fighter (Warning: NSFW Language) in both MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions.
Where Palhares goes from here will likely be contingent on whatever punishment is handed down to him. If he is banned from the sport for any prolonged period of time and released from WSOF, he will likely be forced into international promotions. Keep an eye out for more developments over the next week..
