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.