Former Middleweight Rousimar Palhares impressed viewers with his 31 second submission win over Mike Pierce at UFC fight Night 29. After being pressured into the cage by Pierce, Toquinho snatched his opponent’s leg and cranked the heel hook to force the tap. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Palhares failed to release the hold when Pierce tapped and continued to hold even after the referee attempted to separate the fighters.
Following the bout, Mike Pierce’s trainer Phil Claud told MMA Junkie that the Brazilian commission CABMMA will review the fight to determine whether or not Palhares held the submission too long. Claud denounced Palhares’s performance as “unprofessional”. He said Pierce seemed to be uninjured, though they intend to get an MRI.
This isn’t the first time Palhares has been questioned about his in-fight antics. He had a hilarious mid-fight celebration in his fight with Dan Miller and had to be ordered down from straddling the cage by referee Herb Dean. More seriously, he’s coming off a 9-month suspension for a failed drug test at UFC on FX 6, where he lost to Hector Lombard. On top of that, he was suspended for 90 days after holding another leg lock on Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111.
No word has come regarding whether or not the UFC will pursue their own punishment for Rousimar’s action. Most likely they’ll wait to hear from the CABMMA before making any decision.
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