World Series of Fighting president Ray Sefo announced the decision on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani following a controversial bout in which Palhares repeatedly gouged Jake Shields eyes before locking in a Kimura and maliciously torquing the arm as referee Steve Mazzagatti tried to pull him off.
Read about the incident in-depth here.
Here is a rough summary of what Ray Sefo said:
“There were a few time where I saw Palhares stick his finger in Jake Shields eyes. I watched the whole fight on my computer, and 100% he did it numerous times and was warned by the referee on multiple occasions. The fact that he held that submission way too long…we’re going to strip him of his title immediately, and suspending him indefinitely. The Nevada athletic commission is also doing their own investigation. We need to look after our athletes, and this behavior needs to stop. We’ve given him more than a fair chance. It was dirty, and it wasn’t right. Cutting him is part of the discussion, but we haven’t finalized that decision. He may never fight for us again, the athletic commission may suspend him for up to 4 years.”
Joe Lauzon did an excellent analysis of why Rousimar Palhares is “kind of a dick.” What he determined is that while it takes Rousimar an average of 1.074 seconds to stop applying pressure to a submission after a tap, Lauzon (a respectful fighter) averages only 0.199 seconds.
Check that out on the next page:
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