UFC welterweight Rousimar Palhares became one of the few fighters to be kicked out of the promotion following a victory.
Rousimar Palhares is undoubtedly one of the most feared submission artists in UFC history. But in the middle of his ascent towards a UFC title shot, the promotion decided to part ways after Palhares nearly ripped an opponent’s heel off.
Palhares and welterweight Mike Pierce squared off on the undercard of Demian Maia vs. Jake Shields in October 2013 in Barueri, Brazil. It was Palhares’s welterweight debut after an up-and-down run at 185lbs.
While Palhares was victorious in his 170 lb debut, it lives in UFC infamy after a controversial conclusion to the fight.
Rousimar Palhares’s short-lived UFC career ended in controversy
Palhares wasted little time pressuring Pierce against the fence, securing a big takedown and appearing in control early on. Just 30 seconds into the fight, Palhares sunk in a nasty heel hook submission that forced Pierce to tap, sending the Brazilian crowd into a frenzy.
But Palhares didn’t stop fighting once Pierce tapped, and continued to strangle Pierce’s heel before veteran referee Keith Peterson forced Palhares off of Pierce. It was a wild turn of events after Palhares secured one of the biggest victories of his career.
Watch the chaotic scene below.
Palhares was denied a post-fight performance bonus despite his 31-second submission due to what Dana White called ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’. But White went a step further just hours later in an interview with ESPN‘s Jeremy Schapp.
“If you ever watch a UFC event, the camaraderie, the sportsmanship is amazing in this sport. You know, we had an incident with a guy named Paul Daley from England, who hit somebody after the fight was over,” White said.
“This is the second incident we’ve had with Palhares, where he had the lock and he didn’t let it go. Finally he let it go, but yeah, I’m going to cut him, too.
“He’s done.”
Palhares was released by the UFC just days after the infraction, and was signed by the World Series of Fighting promotion just days later. But remarkably, Palhares’s WSOF tenure would end in a similar fashion.
- READ MORE: Tyson Fury boxing comeback talks resurrected after Turki Alalshikh makes a surprising announcement
Rousimar Palhares was cut by UFC, WSOF for refusing to let go of tapped submissions
Palhares won his first two WSOF fights over Jon Fitch and Steve Carl before squaring off with Jake Shields at WSOF 22. Palhares, who was the WSOF welterweight champion at the time of the Shields fight, forced Shields to tap to a kimura submission in Round 3.
But Palhares refused to let go of the submission when the referee stopped the fight, and he was immediately stripped of his title by WSOF. He parted ways with the promotion just weeks after the incident.
Palhares ended his MMA career on a six-fight winless streak, and retired from MMA after a loss to Florent Betorangal in March 2024 at Kongs FC 2. His final victory came against Aleksei Ivanov, coincidentally by the same technique he submitted Pierce with, in July 2017 at Fight Nights Global 70.