World Series of Fighting 9: Recap and Full Results from Carl vs. Palhares

The World Series of Fighting promotion brought out several of its biggest names, old and new, for WSOF 9, held Saturday in Las Vegas.
Rousimar Palhares, who was banned from the UFC last fall amid allegations he held onto a dangerous submission hold for…

The World Series of Fighting promotion brought out several of its biggest names, old and new, for WSOF 9, held Saturday in Las Vegas.

Rousimar Palhares, who was banned from the UFC last fall amid allegations he held onto a dangerous submission hold for too long, didn’t even need half a round to submit Steve Carl with his patented heel hook and take the WSOF welterweight title in his debut for the promotion. 

But the Palhares win was, again, met with some controversy on social media. He appeared to hold the heel hook once again for just a beat longer than was necessary. Fighters are coached to maintain a submission hold until the referee stops the fight, but referee Yves Lavigne seemed compelled to push for an extra instant on Palhares, who in turn appeared to ignore Carl’s tapping hand. 

In any event, Palhares won the fight and the title, and he moves to 16-5 as a pro.

In the evening’s co-main event, bantamweight phenom Marlon Moraes continued to steamroll, winning his seventh straight bout and becoming the first man to don the WSOF bantamweight strap with a dominant decision win over Josh Rettinghouse.

Moraes hurt Rettinghouse with punches and then leg kicks. Down the stretch, Rettinghouse had difficulty moving and even standing, falling to the mat more than once in pain and in the vain hope of initiating a ground exchange. While it seemed the referee or Rettinghouse’s corner could have justifiably ended the bout, he continued to the final horn.

Palhares wasn’t the only UFC veteran making his WSOF debut Saturday. Yushin Okami was in the same boat, and he made the most of a fairly easy matchup by submitting Svetlozar Savov via second-round choke-out. Okami spent much of the bout to that point in full mount, and the fight was never seriously in question.

Also on the main card, Josh Burkman returned to the winner’s circle after losing to Carl in October for the vacant WSOF welterweight title. Burkman landed a heavy lead right hook that dropped well-regarded youngster Tyler Stinson and then closed him out by swooping down with a single ground strike that shut off Stinson’s lights.

Here are the full results from the evening:

Main Card

Division Fighters and Result Method
Middleweight Rousimar Palhares def. Steve Carl Submission (heel hook), 1:09, Rd. 1
Bantamweight Marlon Moraes def. Josh Rettinghouse Unanimous decision
Middleweight Yushin Okami def. Svetlozar Savov Submission (arm-triangle choke), 4:46, Rd. 2
Welterweight Josh Burkman def. Tyler Stinson KO, 2:15, Rd. 1
Lightweight Jonathan Nunez def. Ozzy Dugulubgov Split decision

 

Preliminary Card

Division Fighters and Result Method
Featherweight Mike Corey def. Shane Kruchten Submission (rear-naked choke), 2:59, Rd. 2
Bantamweight Bryson Hansen def. Sean Cantor TKO, 0:46, Rd. 1
Featherweight Chris Gruetzemacher def. John Gunderson Unanimous decision
Featherweight Brenson Hansen def. Boostayre Nefarios Unanimous decision
Welterweight Danny Davis def. Phil Dace Unanimous decision
Lightweight Jimmy Spicuzza def. Gil Guardado Submission (rear-naked choke), 3:14, Rd. 1

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com