UFC Fight Night 29 results, photos: Rousimar Palhares quickly taps Mike Pierce

BARUERI, Brazil – In his welterweight debut, Rousimar Palhares made short work of Mike Pierce.

It took all of 31 seconds before Pierce was tapping and screaming for Palhares to let go of an inverted heel hook.

The welterweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 29 event at Jose Correa Arena in Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on the same channel.

Pierce came out aggressively in the bout’s opening seconds and landed a punch that sent Palhares reeling back to the cage.

Palhares immediately began working for a heel hook, which sent Pierce scrambling to counter the submission hold.

He escaped, but Palhares wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Dropping to his back, he attacked Pierce’s leg again, and the American fell back to the canvas.

Before Pierce hit the mat, he was tapping.

“If I win ‘Submission of the Night,’ I’ll donate my bonus to Doctors Without Borders,” Palhares said. “God is the one who gives me this talent and these submissions, and I can only be thankful. Making this weight, it wasn’t easy, I suffered a lot. Many people criticized me for changing teams, but they judge me without knowing me. Now it’s time to rest and come back even better next time.”

Palhares (15-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) reverses a two-fight skid that prompted him to leave the middleweight division, while Pierce (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) sees a four-fight win streak come to an unceremonious end.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 29 results include:

• Rousimar Palhares def. Mike Pierce via submission (ankle lock) – Round 1, 0:31
• Raphael Assuncao def. T.J. Dillashaw via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Igor Araujo def. Ildemar Alcantara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Yan Cabral def. David Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Chris Cariaso def. Iliarde Santos via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:31
• Alan Patrick def. Garett Whiteley via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:54

For more on UFC Fight Night 29, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Barueri.