Rousimar Palhares returned to the cage on May 21st against Emil Meek for the welterweight title at the Venator FC 3 event. This was the first fight that he has competed in since his last fight against Jake Shields at WSOF 22, which was dramatised, to say the least.
In his fight with Shields, Palhares keep cranking on his fight-ending kimura after Shields tapped a plethora of times. Also, Shields revealed that Palhares was also using eye gouges during the fight. That dirty tactic not only got him suspended by it also got him his release papers from the promotion.
Things didn’t go smoothly in his return bout. Palhares was finished in just 45-seconds into the first round after Meek landed several huge elbows that ultimately finished the fight. This loss snapped his four-fight winning streak. Palhares recently spoke with MMA Fighting about the fight.
“What went wrong in the fight is that I was hit with illegal elbows in the back of the head and couldn’t see anything next,” Palhares told MMA Fighting. “When I was hit, I went out. I couldn’t even understand what happened. I kept asking my corners what happened because I felt a strike in the back of my head and then I just saw the referee in front of me and felt the pain in the back of my head. I was upset because I didn’t fight and they let him continue after the first strike in the back of the head. I wasn’t in the fight anymore after it.”
Palhares revealed that he ended up in the hospital following the fight and will visit his doctor again in Rio de Janeiro soon.
“I didn’t say anything (after the fight) because I was off, but my coaches saw and complained, but nobody did anything,” he said. “They just sent me to the hospital for observation, to make sure everything was alright with my brain. I stayed there for 12 hours and then they let me go, and asked me to do another MRI in Brazil.”
“I’m not 100 percent yet. Let me get the MRI done first,” said the Brazilian. “I don’t want to cause harm to anyone, I just want to be healthy. I was afraid, but I know I can walk now. It would be devastating to become paralyzed because of an infraction like that. I feel dizzy sometimes, but I’m happy I’m walking. I’m afraid of this MRI results. About getting the fight overturned, honestly, I’m not worried right now. I just want to be as healthy as I was when I got there. We’ll think about it later.
“I will only know my next step after I get the MRI done because sometimes I feel I’m going to black out,” he continued. “I feel dizzy when I look down. I’m not used to getting hit in the back of the head. I don’t blame the guy that fought me, but the referee shouldn’t let it continue. I’m strong, you know, and I still went out. Imagine if it’s someone else, someone not well prepared as I am? People could die.”
“It was my first fight since leaving WSOF and the suspension, so that disturbed me at first, no doubt about it,” he continued. “I went through a lot, only my family and teammates know. But when I was offered this fight, I left it in the past. It didn’t affect me during the fight. What really affected me were the elbows to the back of the head. I only recall the first strike, and I was out. I can’t remember anything else.”
It will be interesting to see where Palhares goes from here with the current reputation that he has. He has been banned from the UFC and WSOF. It’s possible that he fights in Venator again or possibly somewhere else.
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