Author: MMA Fighting Newswire

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani and Shaun Al-Shatti take a closer look at the top storylines heading into Saturday night’s UFC 166, including the main event tilt between UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. UFC 166 also features heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Roy Nelson battling in the co-main event.

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HOUSTON — UFC president Dana White discusses Nick Diaz vs. Michael Bisping, Brock vs. Fedor, Conor McGregor, Brandon Vera, Rousimar Palhares, and much more during the UFC 166 media day Thursday.

HOUSTON — The top fighters at UFC 166 squared off during media day Thursday evening at the Toyota Center.

Rousimar Palhares‘ release from the UFC seems to be a permanent one.

“He knew what he was doing that night,” Dana White said on FOX Sports Live on Wednesday.  “Apparently, there was some talk where Mike Pierce said some bad things and everything else. There is no place for that in this sport. You don’t hold a leglock that long while the guy is tapping and you know he is tapping. Especially that’s what Palhares is known for — he’s the best in the world in leglocks. What he did was wrong and really despicable what he did. He won’t be back. He can go fight with another organization. We don’t put up with that stuff here.”

Palhares defeated Mike Pierce via submission in 31 seconds at UFC Fight Night 29. Despite being the only submission on the card, Palhares was not awarded the Submission of the Night bonus because of his unsportsmanlike conduct. He was released from his contract a couple of days later.

His manager Alex Davis told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that Palhares was “perplexed” by the UFC’s decision to drop him from his contract.

“He’s not perplexed. He’s not perplexed at all. The bottom line is anybody who is involved in jiu-jitsu knows that is the nastiest submission you can put someone in. It’s the dirtiest, nastiest submission in jiu-jitsu or in the sport of mixed martial arts. When you get it, and you know you got it, and the guy taps, you let go. And if you don’t, I will cut you,” White said.

Other stories White discussed Wednesday evening:

• Despite filming the ‘Expendables 3’, White says UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is 140 pounds right now. She is headed to film ‘Fast and Furious 7’ after ‘Expendables 3’.
• White on what Cain Velasquez told him and Lorenzo Fertitta after UFC 155: “I didn’t want to submit him, and I didn’t want to knock him out. I wanted to punish him for five rounds and that’s what I did.”
• White said the reason he didn’t want Renzo Gracie to make a comeback initially is because he’s worried about his safety. “He’s got my phone number. If Renzo wants to fight, Renzo can call me,” White said.

HOUSTON — MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon was on the scene as former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson, and Diego Sanchez put on a show at the House of Blues. Former baseball star Roger Clemens also makes an appearance.

Music courtesy of APM Music.

A welterweight fight between Karo Parisyan and Cristiano Souza has been added to the Spike TV portion of the Rampage vs. Tito pay-per-view card Nov. 2.

Parisyan (22-10, 1 no-contest) lost his Bellator debut at Bellator 95 when he was knocked out in the second round by Rick Hawn. He has won three of his past five fights.

Souza, who is 6-0 in his career and a recent competitor on Bellator’s Fight Master show, has won both his Bellator fights. He defeated John Kelly via unanimous decision at Bellator 50 and knocked out Robert Otani in the first round at Bellator 80.

Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz will headline the event at the Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, Calif.