WSOF President Ray Sefo explains Rousimar Palhares' suspension; manager responds

WSOF President Ray Sefo said the decision to suspend Rousimar Palhares indefinitely and strip him of the welterweight title is the result of one egregious act, but it ultimately sends a bigger message.

Sefo said “facts are facts” when it comes to Palhares’ (18-6) behavior in this past Saturday’s WSOF 22 title bout against Jake Shields (31-8-1), and the promotion has to take action.

“No fighter should have to tap nine times, and no referee should have to pull somebody off, because that’s where people are going to get hurt,” Sefo today told MMAjunkie after announcing the punishment against Palhares, who held a third-round kimura submission in a victory now under review following the event at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. “We’ve got to protect our athletes and we’ve got to protect the sport.”

Sefo said the WSOF now awaits a decision from the Nevada State Athletic Commission before deciding how long his suspension will last. NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett on Monday told MMAjunkie that the commission was aware of the Brazilian champ’s history with overextending submissions and was warned backstage prior to the fight. Palhares and Shields, who complained of illegal eye-pokes and who punched Palhares after the bell, could both face disciplinary action.

“We don’t know if they’re going to suspend him for life, or they’re going to suspend him for a year,” Sefo said. “After that investigation is done, and the commission comes to a decision, we would obviously make another decision pending that.”

For now, the promotion has yet to outline a plan to crown a new welterweight champion. Sefo said an October bout between onetime title challenger Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami will not be for the title.

Palhares’ manager, Alex Davis, said he hadn’t formally been notified of the promotion’s action and criticized the decision to publicly announce it beforehand. He said while his fighter will honor any action taken by the NSAC, he will fight an indefinite suspension in court.

“I love and respect Ray, but you cannot suspend somebody indefinitely,” he told MMAjunkie. “I have the contract, and the contract says (WSOF) shall have the right upon notice to the fighter – which we have not received – shall have the right to suspend the term for a reasonable period until the applicable issue is resolved. That is not indefinitely.

“If WSOF does not want Rousimar’s services anymore, what they should do is just end the contract and we’ll just part ways. What’s not going to happen is they keep him under contract so that he can’t go and make his living somewhere else.”

Davis conceded that Palhares does bear some responsibility for the uproar, but also stressed the champ is not the only MMA fighter who applies submissions with too much force. He also said referee Mazzagatti shares in the blame for being out of position on the stoppage despite being aware of Palhares’ submission abilities.

“There are no rules that tell you how far you take a (limb) back or forth,” Davis said. “It’s a very subjective point. But I agree that if we’re looking at the safety of the fighters, and he’s done it time and again and we’ve tried to work with him, and try to make him not do it and he just keeps on doing it, I have to give my hands out to be slapped on that.

“But I have to point that he’s not the only one who does it, and people don’t get buzzed when a guy gets knocked out and he gets three or four more punches. I’m not saying he’s right on this, I’m just saying it’s a part of the sport.”

Davis cited a recent blog posting from UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon, who analyzed the time he held submissions in fights versus Palhares, as “well put together” and yet misleading on the real issue at hand.

Lauzon concluded Palhares held onto submissions too long and called the Brazilian fighter “kind of a d-ck.”

“What makes Rousimar’s submissions so unpalatable is not the time he holds on, but it’s how far he cranks it,” Davis countered. “If you look at Joe Lauzon, he’s holding onto the submission, waiting for the referee to stop it. Well, Rousimar just keeps on going regardless of what happens. He’s zoned out; he just seems to lose contact with reality.”

Still, Davis said if Palhares is to be punished for his actions so, too, should be Shields for punching after the bell.

“There’s the eyepokes that we could say that they were accidental or not accidental,” he said. “I watched very carefully and it’s clear there are points where his fingers do contact with Jake Shields’ eyes, and that’s illegal. Now, if that was accidental or on purpose, I’m not the person that’s going to say that. But if you’re going to punish Rousimar, you’re going to have to punish Jake Shields for punching him after the fight was over. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

As far as the WSOF is concerned, however, the wrong that needs to be punished right now is Palhares’ recent actions.

“I think Palhares needs to go to talk to somebody, because he’s obviously a different person,” Sefo said. “I’ve talked to him outside of the cage, and he seems like a super nice guy. But for some reason, when he steps into that cage, he’s a different person. There’s a lot of things he needs to do before I can even go into what kind of length (the suspension) is.”

For more on WSOF 22, check out the MMA Events section of the site.