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On the first episode of UFC 191 Embedded, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger John Dodson ready for their championship rematch, Dodson responds to Johnson’s “mental midget” comment, Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski put the finishing touches on their fight camps, and more.
On the first episode of UFC 191 Embedded, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger John Dodson ready for their championship rematch, Dodson responds to Johnson’s “mental midget” comment, Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski put the finishing touches on their fight camps, and more.
Few athletes in mixed martial arts will ever experience a ride quite like the one Ronda Rousey is enjoying. Within a span of five years, Rousey has risen from relative obscurity to genuine international superstardom, paving the way for women to fight in the UFC while improbably becoming the highest-grossing draw in an otherwise male-dominated sport.
“I don’t even think I’m going to know what is going on right now or realize what is going on right now until afterward, until it’s all done,” Rousey reflected Monday on the Joe Rogan podcast.
“I could just try to do the best that I can in the moment, but I don’t really think that any of us really comprehend what’s going on right now until we’re looking at it in hindsight. And that’s the kind of thing, I think it’s kind of funny. There’s so many people who just live to hate me, but when I’m gone, they’re going to miss me. They really are.”
For Rousey (12-0), things only gets bigger from here. The UFC’s undefeated female bantamweight champion is slated to defend her title Nov. 15 against Holly Holm in front of a crowd of potentially 70,000 fight fans in Melbourne, Australia. If the event’s turnout matches expectations, UFC 193 would smash the promotion’s previous attendance record held by UFC 129.
But breaking records, it seems, is what Rousey does these days. Her latest title defense at UFC 190, a 34-second massacre over Bethe Correia, drew the highest pay-per-view marks of 2015 despite a lackluster undercard. The momentum for her global popularity ostensibly explodes with every successive fight, and even small things, such as her recent ‘Don’t be a DNB’ campaign, seemingly turn to gold overnight.
Though despite already being a cultural feminist icon and role model for young women, Rousey views herself in an interesting light.
“I’m not the protagonist. I’m the antagonist,” Rousey said. “Because the protagonist just reacts. They do nothing. The whole storyline, the whole everything that goes on, is completely dependent on the antagonist.
“I’m the one who’s forcing everybody to do something, and so I like to think of myself as more of the heel, the bad guy who you somehow sometimes root for. You can’t help it a little bit sometimes, but sometimes you hate them. I think the fact that mixed emotions come out is one of the more interesting things. I’m not trying to have everyone like me. I’m trying to have everybody care about what I’m doing.”
Between movies, marketing campaigns, and a tireless fight schedule, Rousey is perhaps the most sought after mixed martial artist since the heyday of Brock Lesnar. And yet her busy calendar rarely reflects itself in her fights. Of her 12 professional wins, 11 have ended inside the first round, the last four of which have ended in 66 seconds or less.
With those quick victories has come an aura that’s drawn repeated — and admittedly lazy — comparisons to Mike Tyson. In the mainstream media, Rousey fights have become bigger than any others.
That spotlight generates a unique pressure hard to describe for the uninitiated, and Rousey said that same pressure has become an advantage she can levy against opponents, most of whom are strangers to the bright lights.
“I notice a lot of these girls, they would like to win a UFC belt and have that respect, but they’re not about that life,” Rousey said. “They don’t want that life. They don’t want that attention, scrutiny, pressure, and constant work and all of those things. They don’t want it. They want one thing without the other, but it all comes together.
“And that’s I think one thing that’s kind of working against them, is when they actually come in to fight me, they get a taste, a small taste, of what that life is going to be like when they’re a contender — because it is way more attention, way more this, way more that. And once you win the belt, it’s just doubled every single time. It’s more and more and more and more. And I don’t think any of them would actually be happy with that lifestyle. I don’t think they really, truly want it.”
Rousey admitted that at some point within the next handful of years, she’ll have to sit down and ask herself what is next. If she continues to win, her portfolio of options outside the sport of MMA will only grow more lucrative, and Hollywood makes for a more comfortable lifestyle than getting punched in the face for a living.
But still, she can’t think about that yet, not while there’s still work to be done.
“It just seems unfinished. My career, there’s more left to do,” the 28-year-old said. “I don’t feel like I’m done yet. Because with the Olympics, it’s just like you win the gold medal and you’re done. With the UFC, when am I really done?
“But I’m not going to be doing this in my thirties,” Rousey added later. “I don’t want to be fighting into my thirties. By thirties, I mean like 31, 32.”
Aside from Holm, the most obvious mountain Rousey has yet to climb is the one rival who continues to float on the periphery like a thorn in the UFC champion’s side: Invicta FC featherweight standout Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
Rousey admitted that putting Justino behind her once and for all would “definitely” put her closer to feeling like she’s accomplished every she needs in the sport, and that if Justino “showed sooner rather than later,” Rousey isn’t sure how much longer she’d continue fighting once the rivalry was settled.
But Rousey also doubled down on her stance that the fight would have to be at 135 pounds, inferring that Justino is still taking performance enhancing drugs while backtracking away from directly accusing her.
“Someone who uses steroids and those kind of things, they need that to mentally think that they have an advantage that they didn’t earn,” Rousey said. “It’s a crutch for her. She needs to feel like she somehow has an advantage from the outside, because she doesn’t think she’s good enough with just what she has. That’s why you dope in the first place, because you feel like the best you have isn’t good enough. She feels like, if we fight fair, the best she has isn’t going to be good enough. That’s why she wants it to be somehow stacked in her favor.
“That’s the thing, when you look at these people from before, when they’re using, and after, when they’re not, they look entirely different. And ‘Cyborg’ looks and weighs exactly the same. If she gets off, it’ll be very easy for her to make weight, from what we’ve seen with every single other person that’s gotten off.
“I can’t say with proof or anything,” Rousey added. “But if you look the exact same as you did when you were using, then what changed?”
Few athletes in mixed martial arts will ever experience a ride quite like the one Ronda Rousey is enjoying. Within a span of five years, Rousey has risen from relative obscurity to genuine international superstardom, paving the way for women to fight in the UFC while improbably becoming the highest-grossing draw in an otherwise male-dominated sport.
“I don’t even think I’m going to know what is going on right now or realize what is going on right now until afterward, until it’s all done,” Rousey reflected Monday on the Joe Rogan podcast.
“I could just try to do the best that I can in the moment, but I don’t really think that any of us really comprehend what’s going on right now until we’re looking at it in hindsight. And that’s the kind of thing, I think it’s kind of funny. There’s so many people who just live to hate me, but when I’m gone, they’re going to miss me. They really are.”
For Rousey (12-0), things only gets bigger from here. The UFC’s undefeated female bantamweight champion is slated to defend her title Nov. 15 against Holly Holm in front of a crowd of potentially 70,000 fight fans in Melbourne, Australia. If the event’s turnout matches expectations, UFC 193 would smash the promotion’s previous attendance record held by UFC 129.
But breaking records, it seems, is what Rousey does these days. Her latest title defense at UFC 190, a 34-second massacre over Bethe Correia, drew the highest pay-per-view marks of 2015 despite a lackluster undercard. The momentum for her global popularity ostensibly explodes with every successive fight, and even small things, such as her recent ‘Don’t be a DNB’ campaign, seemingly turn to gold overnight.
Though despite already being a cultural feminist icon and role model for young women, Rousey views herself in an interesting light.
“I’m not the protagonist. I’m the antagonist,” Rousey said. “Because the protagonist just reacts. They do nothing. The whole storyline, the whole everything that goes on, is completely dependent on the antagonist.
“I’m the one who’s forcing everybody to do something, and so I like to think of myself as more of the heel, the bad guy who you somehow sometimes root for. You can’t help it a little bit sometimes, but sometimes you hate them. I think the fact that mixed emotions come out is one of the more interesting things. I’m not trying to have everyone like me. I’m trying to have everybody care about what I’m doing.”
Between movies, marketing campaigns, and a tireless fight schedule, Rousey is perhaps the most sought after mixed martial artist since the heyday of Brock Lesnar. And yet her busy calendar rarely reflects itself in her fights. Of her 12 professional wins, 11 have ended inside the first round, the last four of which have ended in 66 seconds or less.
With those quick victories has come an aura that’s drawn repeated — and admittedly lazy — comparisons to Mike Tyson. In the mainstream media, Rousey fights have become bigger than any others.
That spotlight generates a unique pressure hard to describe for the uninitiated, and Rousey said that same pressure has become an advantage she can levy against opponents, most of whom are strangers to the bright lights.
“I notice a lot of these girls, they would like to win a UFC belt and have that respect, but they’re not about that life,” Rousey said. “They don’t want that life. They don’t want that attention, scrutiny, pressure, and constant work and all of those things. They don’t want it. They want one thing without the other, but it all comes together.
“And that’s I think one thing that’s kind of working against them, is when they actually come in to fight me, they get a taste, a small taste, of what that life is going to be like when they’re a contender — because it is way more attention, way more this, way more that. And once you win the belt, it’s just doubled every single time. It’s more and more and more and more. And I don’t think any of them would actually be happy with that lifestyle. I don’t think they really, truly want it.”
Rousey admitted that at some point within the next handful of years, she’ll have to sit down and ask herself what is next. If she continues to win, her portfolio of options outside the sport of MMA will only grow more lucrative, and Hollywood makes for a more comfortable lifestyle than getting punched in the face for a living.
But still, she can’t think about that yet, not while there’s still work to be done.
“It just seems unfinished. My career, there’s more left to do,” the 28-year-old said. “I don’t feel like I’m done yet. Because with the Olympics, it’s just like you win the gold medal and you’re done. With the UFC, when am I really done?
“But I’m not going to be doing this in my thirties,” Rousey added later. “I don’t want to be fighting into my thirties. By thirties, I mean like 31, 32.”
Aside from Holm, the most obvious mountain Rousey has yet to climb is the one rival who continues to float on the periphery like a thorn in the UFC champion’s side: Invicta FC featherweight standout Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino.
Rousey admitted that putting Justino behind her once and for all would “definitely” put her closer to feeling like she’s accomplished every she needs in the sport, and that if Justino “showed sooner rather than later,” Rousey isn’t sure how much longer she’d continue fighting once the rivalry was settled.
But Rousey also doubled down on her stance that the fight would have to be at 135 pounds, inferring that Justino is still taking performance enhancing drugs while backtracking away from directly accusing her.
“Someone who uses steroids and those kind of things, they need that to mentally think that they have an advantage that they didn’t earn,” Rousey said. “It’s a crutch for her. She needs to feel like she somehow has an advantage from the outside, because she doesn’t think she’s good enough with just what she has. That’s why you dope in the first place, because you feel like the best you have isn’t good enough. She feels like, if we fight fair, the best she has isn’t going to be good enough. That’s why she wants it to be somehow stacked in her favor.
“That’s the thing, when you look at these people from before, when they’re using, and after, when they’re not, they look entirely different. And ‘Cyborg’ looks and weighs exactly the same. If she gets off, it’ll be very easy for her to make weight, from what we’ve seen with every single other person that’s gotten off.
“I can’t say with proof or anything,” Rousey added. “But if you look the exact same as you did when you were using, then what changed?”
The cavalcade of big match-ups continues to pile on the end-of-year schedule, as the UFC announced Monday an important women’s strawweight bout between former Invicta FC champion Michelle Waterson and top-five ranked contender Tecia Torres f…
The cavalcade of big match-ups continues to pile on the end-of-year schedule, as the UFC announced Monday an important women’s strawweight bout between former Invicta FC champion Michelle Waterson and top-five ranked contender Tecia Torres for Dec. 12 at UFC 194.
The fight represents a major step-up in competition for Waterson (13-4), a 29-year-old Jackson-Winkeljohn product who until recently reigned as Invicta FC’s atomweight champion.
Waterson, who captured the title in 2013 with an electric victory over Jessica Penne, shifted up to 115 pounds for her UFC debut in July and made easy work of Angela Magana, dispatching the TUF 20 veteran with a third-round rear-naked choke at the TUF 21 Finale.
She’ll now meet Torres (6-0), an undefeated 26-year-old who rebounded from a disappointing run on TUF 20 to pick up back-to-back decision wins over Magana and Angela Hill inside the Octagon.
Though she’s short on experience, Torres’ hit list includes some impressive names from the UFC’s strawweight rankings, highlighted by decisions over Paige VanZant, Felice Herrig, and former title challenger Rose Namajunas.
UFC 194 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The event is headlined by two title fights: Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor to unify the UFC featherweight title, and Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold for the middleweight strap.
An updated UFC 194 fight card can be seen below.
Two titles will be on the line Oct. 23, as former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey will vie for Bellator’s vacant 185-pound strap against streaking Brazilian Rafael Carvalho in Bellator 144’s co-headlining bout.
Bellator officials announ…
Two titles will be on the line Oct. 23, as former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey will vie for Bellator’s vacant 185-pound strap against streaking Brazilian Rafael Carvalho in Bellator 144’s co-headlining bout.
Bellator officials announced the match-up on Monday. Eduardo Dantas looks to recapture his bantamweight title against Marcos Galvao in the night’s main event.
The undefeated Halsey (9-0) was stripped of his Bellator middleweight title after missing weight by over three pounds in his most recent bout, which he won via fourth-round TKO against Kendall Grove. Halsey ultimately attributed his weigh-in failure to an injury suffered during training camp.
The 28-year-old American is a perfect 7-0 in his seven appearances inside the Bellator cage. After debuting as a light heavyweight, he defeated Joe Pacheco and Brett Cooper in back-to-back fights to win season 10’s middleweight tournament. The run earned Halsey an opportunity to challenge Alexander Shlemenko for Bellator’s middleweight championship, and Halsey needed just 35 seconds to choke the Russian unconscious and claim the belt.
He’ll now look to reclaim his title against Carvalho (11-1), a 29-year-old native of Rio de Janeiro who captured a surprising split decision over kickboxing champion Joe Schilling last April. Carvalho rides an 11-fight win streak into the contest, including a first-round TKO over Brian Rogers in his Bellator debut.
Bellator 144 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Welterweight contenders Brennan Ward (11-3) and Michael Page (8-0) are also expected to appear on the Spike TV main card.
An updated Bellator 144 fight card can be seen below.
Demetrious Johnson’s goals extend far beyond a Sept. 5 rematch against John Dodson at UFC 191.
“Obviously, when I got in the sport, this was a hobby for me. And now I’m going for my seventh title defense,” said Johnson, the UFC’s current flyweight champion. “The record is held right now by Anderson Silva and it’s 10, so if I could break that, that would be an awesome thing.”
Johnson isn’t the first long-reigning UFC champion to turn his gaze towards Silva’s hallowed mark. Jon Jones often spoke openly about surpassing Silva before his light heavyweight title was stripped amid controversy, and even Benson Henderson fantasized about approaching double digits during his record-tying lightweight reign.
In many ways, Silva’s consecutive title defense record represents the zenith of the sport, a monument to sustained excellence similar to an all-time touchdown or home run record. For years, it looked as though either Jones or Georges St-Pierre would be the man to eclipse it. But with Jones stripped and St-Pierre now spending his days in retirement, Johnson represents the most serious threat the record has perhaps ever seen.
The flyweight champion is only 29 years old, just entering his athletic prime with a squeaky clean reputation to boot. Neither retirement nor controversy ever enters his field of vision, and in a span of just three years, he’s established the kind of stranglehold over his division that’s taken great fighters of the past twice as long to accomplish.
“To be able to have the most finishes as a flyweight, with knockouts, submissions, and TKOs, that’s another goal. And just being the most active flyweight,” Johnson said. “As a champion I’m a pretty active guy, and not having injuries, those are all goals that I have set for myself. Once I have done all of that stuff and things get better for myself, and when Dana White and those guys approach me about (moving up to) 135, then we’ll make it happen.”
That Johnson is in a place in his career where a conversation about bantamweight is even being entertained is telling. Silva set himself apart by not only cleaning out his division, but also moving up in weight three separate times just to test himself, and he ended up making a fool out of a former 205-pound champion in the process.
Johnson is nearing the same point where such ideas are legitimately intriguing. A champion vs. champion fight against T.J. Dillashaw would be a veritable symphony for those who appreciate the technical side of the game. But even though Johnson has already beaten five of flyweight’s top-seven contenders, Dodson included, he still sees other challenges out there before he would consider his work done at 125 pounds.
“There are still a lot of guys I haven’t fought,” Johnson said. “I haven’t fought Sergio Pettis. I haven’t fought Henry Cejudo. I haven’t fought Ryan Benoit. Those are all great athletes. Just because they’re not big star names like the other guys, and they haven’t worked their way up there and had the chance to test their skill set against guys like Dodson or (Joseph) Benavidez or even (Ian) McCall, it doesn’t mean they’re not a challenge or someone I’m looking forward to fighting.”
Of course, it’d be premature for Johnson to look past No. 7 on his quest towards Silva’s 10. His first meeting with Dodson still stands as the steepest challenge of Johnson’s tenure as champion, a back-and-forth firefight that saw Johnson survive two early knockdowns to narrowly retain his strap.
The rivalry between the two is one that exists in subtlety, as Johnson is loath to ever admit his disdain for the Jackson-Winkeljohn product. But Dodson knows it’s there — he heard it for years whenever Johnson would dismiss the prospect of a rematch, and he continued hearing it even after his title shot was widely assumed to be his.
“I think a lot of people misconstrue that, where everybody thinks they’re entitled to something in this sport,” Johnson said of his reluctance to name Dodson as an opponent before the UFC made it official.
“For a good example, Miesha Tate was guaranteed the next title shot, and then UFC came out and said nope, Ronda Rousey if fighting Holly Holm. Sorry. And then Miesha Tate got butt hurt. So when Dodson was saying that, ‘I’m next for a title shot,’ and I’m like, ‘UFC ain’t called me about nothing yet. I have never heard your name come out of UFC’s mouth at all.’ That’s where it came from.
“So that’s more in the line of people saying that they’re entitled to things. Nobody is entitled to s**t in this sport. When you get the call, that’s when you get the call.”
Even now, with their second meeting less than a week away, a curious dynamic exists between the two flyweights. While Dodson seems to relish his role as Johnson’s irritant, Johnson denies the acrimony as nothing more than the same tension he shares with the rest of his endless line of challengers.
“I wouldn’t call it bad blood or emotional. It’s almost like any other fight. Regardless if I win or lose, I keep it moving and go on to the next one,” Johnson said.
“I plan on being in the sport for a long time and I believe John Dodson will be in the sport for a long time as well. So I think our paths will cross again, just like I believe my path will cross again with Joseph Benavidez, whether I win this fight or not. We’re the top fighters in the world and we keep beating all the people who are below us, so I think our paths will cross again regardless of who is champ or not.”
Demetrious Johnson’s goals extend far beyond a Sept. 5 rematch against John Dodson at UFC 191.
“Obviously, when I got in the sport, this was a hobby for me. And now I’m going for my seventh title defense,” said Johnson, the UFC’s current flyweight champion. “The record is held right now by Anderson Silva and it’s 10, so if I could break that, that would be an awesome thing.”
Johnson isn’t the first long-reigning UFC champion to turn his gaze towards Silva’s hallowed mark. Jon Jones often spoke openly about surpassing Silva before his light heavyweight title was stripped amid controversy, and even Benson Henderson fantasized about approaching double digits during his record-tying lightweight reign.
In many ways, Silva’s consecutive title defense record represents the zenith of the sport, a monument to sustained excellence similar to an all-time touchdown or home run record. For years, it looked as though either Jones or Georges St-Pierre would be the man to eclipse it. But with Jones stripped and St-Pierre now spending his days in retirement, Johnson represents the most serious threat the record has perhaps ever seen.
The flyweight champion is only 29 years old, just entering his athletic prime with a squeaky clean reputation to boot. Neither retirement nor controversy ever enters his field of vision, and in a span of just three years, he’s established the kind of stranglehold over his division that’s taken great fighters of the past twice as long to accomplish.
“To be able to have the most finishes as a flyweight, with knockouts, submissions, and TKOs, that’s another goal. And just being the most active flyweight,” Johnson said. “As a champion I’m a pretty active guy, and not having injuries, those are all goals that I have set for myself. Once I have done all of that stuff and things get better for myself, and when Dana White and those guys approach me about (moving up to) 135, then we’ll make it happen.”
That Johnson is in a place in his career where a conversation about bantamweight is even being entertained is telling. Silva set himself apart by not only cleaning out his division, but also moving up in weight three separate times just to test himself, and he ended up making a fool out of a former 205-pound champion in the process.
Johnson is nearing the same point where such ideas are legitimately intriguing. A champion vs. champion fight against T.J. Dillashaw would be a veritable symphony for those who appreciate the technical side of the game. But even though Johnson has already beaten five of flyweight’s top-seven contenders, Dodson included, he still sees other challenges out there before he would consider his work done at 125 pounds.
“There are still a lot of guys I haven’t fought,” Johnson said. “I haven’t fought Sergio Pettis. I haven’t fought Henry Cejudo. I haven’t fought Ryan Benoit. Those are all great athletes. Just because they’re not big star names like the other guys, and they haven’t worked their way up there and had the chance to test their skill set against guys like Dodson or (Joseph) Benavidez or even (Ian) McCall, it doesn’t mean they’re not a challenge or someone I’m looking forward to fighting.”
Of course, it’d be premature for Johnson to look past No. 7 on his quest towards Silva’s 10. His first meeting with Dodson still stands as the steepest challenge of Johnson’s tenure as champion, a back-and-forth firefight that saw Johnson survive two early knockdowns to narrowly retain his strap.
The rivalry between the two is one that exists in subtlety, as Johnson is loath to ever admit his disdain for the Jackson-Winkeljohn product. But Dodson knows it’s there — he heard it for years whenever Johnson would dismiss the prospect of a rematch, and he continued hearing it even after his title shot was widely assumed to be his.
“I think a lot of people misconstrue that, where everybody thinks they’re entitled to something in this sport,” Johnson said of his reluctance to name Dodson as an opponent before the UFC made it official.
“For a good example, Miesha Tate was guaranteed the next title shot, and then UFC came out and said nope, Ronda Rousey if fighting Holly Holm. Sorry. And then Miesha Tate got butt hurt. So when Dodson was saying that, ‘I’m next for a title shot,’ and I’m like, ‘UFC ain’t called me about nothing yet. I have never heard your name come out of UFC’s mouth at all.’ That’s where it came from.
“So that’s more in the line of people saying that they’re entitled to things. Nobody is entitled to s**t in this sport. When you get the call, that’s when you get the call.”
Even now, with their second meeting less than a week away, a curious dynamic exists between the two flyweights. While Dodson seems to relish his role as Johnson’s irritant, Johnson denies the acrimony as nothing more than the same tension he shares with the rest of his endless line of challengers.
“I wouldn’t call it bad blood or emotional. It’s almost like any other fight. Regardless if I win or lose, I keep it moving and go on to the next one,” Johnson said.
“I plan on being in the sport for a long time and I believe John Dodson will be in the sport for a long time as well. So I think our paths will cross again, just like I believe my path will cross again with Joseph Benavidez, whether I win this fight or not. We’re the top fighters in the world and we keep beating all the people who are below us, so I think our paths will cross again regardless of who is champ or not.”
The month of August has not been kind to Rousimar Palhares.
The 35-year-old welterweight was stripped of his World Series of Fighting title and placed on indefinite suspension just days after his controversial victory over Jake Shields at WSOF 22. Two weeks later, the Nevada Athletic Commission doubled down on WSOF’s suspension with a temporary ban of their own.
Palhares now awaits a formal disciplinary hearing with the commission, and considering the Brazilian’s past indiscretions, a likelihood exists that he could face significant sanctions for his foul-laden performance against Shields.
“Listen, Palhares did it to himself. He did it to himself and he keeps doing it to himself,” WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz said Monday on The MMA Hour. “For him, I don’t think he should think about fighting anymore. He should think about his well-being. He should think about his mental state. The guy needs some help. I don’t know what kind of help he needs, but he needs some serious help.”
Palhares remains one of the most puzzling enigmas in the game, a supremely talented grappler who just can’t seem to get out of his own way. His third-round kimura of Shields was brilliant, but wound up overshadowed by a litany of egregious fouls, as Palhares not only cranked on the fight-ending submission for several ticks after Shields tapped, but also gouged Shields’ eyes throughout the bout’s second round.
The fouls were just the latest in a systemic pattern of incidents that have followed Palhares throughout his fighting and grappling career. “Toquinho” drew a suspension in 2010 for a similar late crank on Tomasz Drwal, then lost his job in the UFC for an even worse instance against Mike Pierce. Palhares also tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in 2012, and of his other two WSOF fights, both ended in minor controversy due to questionable cranks.
“I put my neck out there and I got smashed because I’m the one who signed him, and he did not make me proud,” Abdel-Aziz said. “His management team, they’ve got to get together and they’ve got to be like, ‘listen, how are we going to fix this man’s life.’ I’m not even worried about him even fighting in World Series of Fighting again. He might never fight again. I want to see this human being do well in life, because he needs to fix something. I don’t know what it is, he’s a great guy, I really like him a lot, but he’s got to fix something in his life.
“There’s just something wrong there. We all know it, but I’m not a doctor. It’s not my job to kind of figure out what’s wrong with the guy. My job is to promote. I’m a promoter, I put on fights. But if I was on his team and I managed him or cared about him, I would take a completely different route with him.”
Palhares has repeatedly expressed his innocence since the Aug. 1 fight. He even turned the tables on Shields, accusing the American of cheating by greasing his body to avoid submissions.
While many lauded WSOF’s decision to suspend Palhares, the fighter’s manager Alex Davis was outraged by the actions, which he called “legally wrong.” He also criticized WSOF officials for announcing the suspension without first consulting Davis himself, although Abdel-Aziz brushes off those accusations.
“Whatever Alex Davis said is bulls**t, because we talked to them,” Abdel-Aziz said. “I talked to ‘Minotauro’ (Nogueira). I don’t care about Alex Davis, I talked to ‘Minotauro,’ his coach, and this is the reason why we signed him. I didn’t sign him because of Alex Davis. And Alex Davis should be like, ‘you know what, I understand, let’s get some help for this kid and move on.’ He can’t be f**king complaining. He should be issuing an apology to Jake Shields and his team.
“I have nothing against Alex, but the whole thing is Alex should not be unhappy because you know what, when nobody wanted to give Palhares a home, I did. And I put my neck on the line for him. But Alex, he’s got to do what he’s got to do. But we did what we have to do, and everybody agreed with us what we did. And the whole thing is right now, it’s the commission who’s going to make the decision what’s going to happen. I can say whatever I want about Palhares, the commission is going to come up with a verdict and we’re going to go with it.”
The situation itself is a bizarre and unfortunate one, as Palhares is unquestionably one of the best welterweights in the world. Since dropping down to 170, he’s rattled off four straight submission wins, three of which were finished in under 90 seconds. He also became the first man in over 40 fights to submit Shields with his latest technical masterpiece.
So while Abdel-Aziz isn’t yet sure how the future will play out, he holds out hope that Palhares can somehow redeem himself if he can eventually get to the root of his issues.
“If he goes there and gets some help and comes back, and says ‘listen, I’m healthy,’ we’re also going to put him through a lot of tests and we’re probably going to send somebody to watch him train — there’s going to be a whole bunch of stuff,” Abdel-Aziz said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Because right now I don’t think Palhares deserves to go inside the cage. It’s nothing personal, but I can’t have a guy going in there trying to hurt people. This is martial arts and we are martial artists. Me and Ray are martial artists, this is what we do everyday. But it’s unacceptable what he did.”
The month of August has not been kind to Rousimar Palhares.
The 35-year-old welterweight was stripped of his World Series of Fighting title and placed on indefinite suspension just days after his controversial victory over Jake Shields at WSOF 22. Two weeks later, the Nevada Athletic Commission doubled down on WSOF’s suspension with a temporary ban of their own.
Palhares now awaits a formal disciplinary hearing with the commission, and considering the Brazilian’s past indiscretions, a likelihood exists that he could face significant sanctions for his foul-laden performance against Shields.
“Listen, Palhares did it to himself. He did it to himself and he keeps doing it to himself,” WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz said Monday on The MMA Hour. “For him, I don’t think he should think about fighting anymore. He should think about his well-being. He should think about his mental state. The guy needs some help. I don’t know what kind of help he needs, but he needs some serious help.”
Palhares remains one of the most puzzling enigmas in the game, a supremely talented grappler who just can’t seem to get out of his own way. His third-round kimura of Shields was brilliant, but wound up overshadowed by a litany of egregious fouls, as Palhares not only cranked on the fight-ending submission for several ticks after Shields tapped, but also gouged Shields’ eyes throughout the bout’s second round.
The fouls were just the latest in a systemic pattern of incidents that have followed Palhares throughout his fighting and grappling career. “Toquinho” drew a suspension in 2010 for a similar late crank on Tomasz Drwal, then lost his job in the UFC for an even worse instance against Mike Pierce. Palhares also tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in 2012, and of his other two WSOF fights, both ended in minor controversy due to questionable cranks.
“I put my neck out there and I got smashed because I’m the one who signed him, and he did not make me proud,” Abdel-Aziz said. “His management team, they’ve got to get together and they’ve got to be like, ‘listen, how are we going to fix this man’s life.’ I’m not even worried about him even fighting in World Series of Fighting again. He might never fight again. I want to see this human being do well in life, because he needs to fix something. I don’t know what it is, he’s a great guy, I really like him a lot, but he’s got to fix something in his life.
“There’s just something wrong there. We all know it, but I’m not a doctor. It’s not my job to kind of figure out what’s wrong with the guy. My job is to promote. I’m a promoter, I put on fights. But if I was on his team and I managed him or cared about him, I would take a completely different route with him.”
Palhares has repeatedly expressed his innocence since the Aug. 1 fight. He even turned the tables on Shields, accusing the American of cheating by greasing his body to avoid submissions.
While many lauded WSOF’s decision to suspend Palhares, the fighter’s manager Alex Davis was outraged by the actions, which he called “legally wrong.” He also criticized WSOF officials for announcing the suspension without first consulting Davis himself, although Abdel-Aziz brushes off those accusations.
“Whatever Alex Davis said is bulls**t, because we talked to them,” Abdel-Aziz said. “I talked to ‘Minotauro’ (Nogueira). I don’t care about Alex Davis, I talked to ‘Minotauro,’ his coach, and this is the reason why we signed him. I didn’t sign him because of Alex Davis. And Alex Davis should be like, ‘you know what, I understand, let’s get some help for this kid and move on.’ He can’t be f**king complaining. He should be issuing an apology to Jake Shields and his team.
“I have nothing against Alex, but the whole thing is Alex should not be unhappy because you know what, when nobody wanted to give Palhares a home, I did. And I put my neck on the line for him. But Alex, he’s got to do what he’s got to do. But we did what we have to do, and everybody agreed with us what we did. And the whole thing is right now, it’s the commission who’s going to make the decision what’s going to happen. I can say whatever I want about Palhares, the commission is going to come up with a verdict and we’re going to go with it.”
The situation itself is a bizarre and unfortunate one, as Palhares is unquestionably one of the best welterweights in the world. Since dropping down to 170, he’s rattled off four straight submission wins, three of which were finished in under 90 seconds. He also became the first man in over 40 fights to submit Shields with his latest technical masterpiece.
So while Abdel-Aziz isn’t yet sure how the future will play out, he holds out hope that Palhares can somehow redeem himself if he can eventually get to the root of his issues.
“If he goes there and gets some help and comes back, and says ‘listen, I’m healthy,’ we’re also going to put him through a lot of tests and we’re probably going to send somebody to watch him train — there’s going to be a whole bunch of stuff,” Abdel-Aziz said.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Because right now I don’t think Palhares deserves to go inside the cage. It’s nothing personal, but I can’t have a guy going in there trying to hurt people. This is martial arts and we are martial artists. Me and Ray are martial artists, this is what we do everyday. But it’s unacceptable what he did.”