Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares

Medal record
Competitor for  Brazil
Men's Grappling
ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship
Silver	2011 Nottingham	-88kg

Rousimar Christian Palhares^[2] (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁowziˈmaʁ paˈʎaɾiʃ]; born February 20, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. His nickname Toquinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [toˈkĩɲu]), Portuguese for "little tree stump", comes from his short, stocky, heavily muscled build. 11 of his 15 wins have come by way of submission, with a notable concentration on leg submissions.

Background

Palhares grew up in abject poverty in the Brazilian countryside. He recalls working in the fields to help support his family as young as age seven and said that there were times where there was not enough food for everyone. He eventually had to leave his shanty and move underneath a local bridge in a tent city slum.^[3]

He claimed the Fury Fighting Championship middleweight title in December 2007 after defeating Flavio Mura, Pan-Am Jiu-Jitsu champion Fabio Negao, and Chute Boxe's Daniel Acacio in a tournament.

Palhares earned his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante and Bebeo Duarte. Experts in martial arts touted Palhares as one of the most naturally gifted grapplers today.^[4]

Having spent his entire early career competing in Brazil, Palhares' first bout outside his home country was in the United States at UFC 84. He is considered to be one of the best in the world at leg locks, such as the heel hook and kneebar.^[5] Palhares took 2nd place in the under 88 kg 2011 ADCC, finishing his first three opponents quickly with leg locks, before losing to established World Champion Andre Galvao in the final, by points.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Middleweight

At UFC 84, Palhares made his UFC debut in spectacular fashion submitting UFC veteran Ivan Salaverry halfway through the first round. Palhares dominated Salaverry from the opening bell grabbing Salaverry and taking him down into side control with a body lock seconds into the fight. From there Palhares transitioned into mount before taking Salaverry's back. As Salaverry tried to escape Palhares switched to an armbar and Salaverry quickly tapped out. He was awarded Submission of the Night honors.

Palhares fought against former PRIDE Middleweight & Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 88. Henderson defeated Palhares by unanimous decision en route to handing Palhares his first loss in the UFC.

Palhares quickly rebounded from the loss to defeat veteran Jeremy Horn at UFC 93 by unanimous decision. Palhares was expected to face Italian Alessio Sakara on December 5, 2009 at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, but due to an injury while training, Sakara had to withdraw. On December 12, 2009 at UFC 107 Palhares fought against Lucio Linhares and defeated Linhares by heel hook.^[6]

At UFC 111, Palhares defeated Tomasz Drwal by heel hook 45 seconds into the first round.^[7] He was, however, subsequently suspended for 90 days for continuing to crank the submission even after Drwal had tapped and referee Kevin Mulhall stepped in to stop the fight.^[8] He stated in a post-fight interview that he did not feel Drwal tap and kept applying pressure until the referee stepped in, and stated that he was sorry for hurting him.

Palhares was expected to face Nate Marquardt on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118,^[9] however the bout was moved to September 15, 2010 to headline UFC Fight Night 22 after Alan Belcher was forced to pull out of his bout with Demian Maia with an eye injury.^[10] Marquardt defeated Palhares via first round TKO. During the fight, Palhares claimed that Marquardt had greased his leg after failing to secure a leg lock on the ground. Marquardt attacked, catching Palhares off guard as he was complaining to the referee and won the fight through a ground-and-pound stoppage. Palhares would later apologize for his actions during the fight after it was determined by officials that Marquardt's leg was not greased.^[11]

Palhares was expected to face Alexandre Ferreira on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann.^[12] However on January 18, Ferreira was dismissed from Chute Boxe, his home training camp, for a "lack of commitment." Less than an hour later, it was reported that the fight had been cancelled due to Ferreira losing family and friends in the Brazilian floods, resulting in him being in "no condition to train or fight."^[13] David Branch replaced Ferriera.^[14] Palhares defeated Branch via second round submission (kneebar).^[15][16]

Palhares/Ferreira was expected to take place on August 27, 2011 at UFC 134.^[17] However, Ferreira was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Dan Miller.^[18] Palhares would defeat Miller by unanimous decision, although there was some controversy when Palhares dropped Miller in the first round and after a few follow up punches, thought the fight was over when it really wasn't.

Palhares next faced Mike Massenzio on January 14, 2012 at UFC 142^[19] He defeated Massenzio by heel hook in the first round, earning him his second Submission of the Night bonus.

Palhares then faced Alan Belcher on May 5, 2012 at UFC on Fox 3.^[20] After getting the fight to the ground, Palhares was almost caught on a twister attempt by Belcher. Palhares was able to escape and proceeded to attempt various types of leglocks, which were all defended by Belcher. After some action, Palhares ended on his back, eventually succumbing to Belcher's ground and pound at 4:18 of the first round.

Palhares was expected to replace an injured Luiz Cane against Yushin Okami on August 11, 2012 at UFC 150.^[21] However Palhares himself was injured and forced out of the bout.^[22]

Palhares faced Hector Lombard on December 15, 2012 at UFC on FX 6 where he lost via KO at 3:38 of Round 1.^[23] Following his loss to Lombard, the UFC announced that Palhares tested positive for elevated testosterone levels in his post-fight drug test and, subsequently, has been suspended for nine-months retroactive to December 14.^[24]

Drop to Welterweight and release from the UFC

Following his loss to Lombard, Palhares stated that he would be moving down one weight class to the welterweight division. He made his debut in the new division against Mike Pierce on October 9, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 29.^[25] He won the fight via heel hook submission just 31 seconds into the first round. The referee stopped the fight two seconds after Pierce started tapping out, and Palhares failed to let go of the hold until 1.08 seconds after the referee stepped in. This was the only successful submission throughout the event. However, Palhares was denied a Submission of the Night bonus because he continued cranking the heel hook after the referee stepped in, an act UFC deemed "unsportsmanlike conduct." It was also noted that Pierce tapped a total of eight times to no response from Palhares.^[26] The next day, while conducting an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, UFC president Dana White announced that the UFC was releasing Palhares effective immediately due to not letting go of the submission.^[27] Hours later, UFC and Zuffa released a statement saying that Palhares was already in trouble for his failure to release his heel hook on Drwal in 2010 and his drug suspension in 2012, and his actions the night before were the last straw.^[28]

World Series of Fighting

In November 2013, Palhares signed a contract with World Series of Fighting, but is already on thin ice as WSOF president Ray Sefo gave Palhares a very stern warning about the in-cage conduct.^[29]

Palhares is expected to make his WSOF debut at WSOF 9 against the reigning Welterweight Champion Steve Carl. ^[30]

Mixed martial arts record

Grappling record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Gi/No-Gi	Date'	Notes	Record
Loss	André Galvão	Points (4-9)	ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (77–88 kg Division)	No-Gi	2011	Wins silver at ADCC 2011	3-1
Win	Rafael Lovato Jr.	Submission (heel hook)	ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (77–88 kg Division)	No-Gi	2011		3-0
Win	David Avellan	Submission (heel hook)	ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (77–88 kg Division)	No-Gi	2011		2-0 caused controversy by holding onto the submission after the fight was paused by the referee due to rolling out of the mat area
Win	Dan Schon	Submission (heel hook)	ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (77–88 kg Division)	No-Gi	2011		1-0

See also

• List of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Rousimar Palhares from Sherdog
• Official UFC Profile