Rousimar Palhares made short work of Steve Carl last night at World Series Of Fighting 9 to become the promotions new welterweight champion.
Palhares took Carl down to the mat right away and from then it was only a matter of time before he dropped back for his trademark heel hook submission. Carl thought he had been able to escape for a brief moment, but no such luck as he immediately got stuck in an inverted version of the same submission.
Clearly in a great amount of pain he frantically began tapping on his opponents leg.
‘Toquinho’ did continue to hold onto the submission after that, which has got him in a lot of trouble in the past, but only for a brief moment before the referee stepped in and literally began pulling his hands apart, at which point he did let go with just 69 seconds of the fight gone.
It was all over pretty fast thanks to the referee and afterward WSOF president Ray Sefo and even Carl himself seemed to have no problem with the stoppage, but it does make you wonder what might happen if the ref is not so quick to react in future.
Former UFC fighter Jon Fitch will be the next to find out as he’ll now challenge Palhares for the title later this year. Fitch had previously stated that he would refuse to fight Palhares due to his unsportsmanlike behaviour, but he’s since had a change of heart.
A bantamweight champion was also crowned last night at WSOF 9 as Marlon Moraes defeated Josh Rettinghouse by unanimous decision after putting on a kicking clinic over the course of five rounds.
Yushin Okami made a successful start to his time in WSOF, controlling Stvetlozar Savov in typically stifling fashion on the mat for almost 10 minutes, before sinking in a fight-ending arm triangle choke with fourteens seconds of the round remaining.
Elsewhere, former welterweight No.1 contender Josh Burkman got back to winning ways with a quick KO win over Tyler Stinson, dropping him with a right hook and then another right on the mat to get the job done, while Jonny Nnuez earned a split decision victory over Ozzy Dugulubgov.
See all the WSOF 9 results below.
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Main Card:
Rousimar Palhares defeats Steve Carl by submission (heel hook). Round 1, 1:09
Marlon Moraes defeats Josh Rettinghouse by unanimous decision (50-44 x3)
Yushin Okami defeats Svetlozar Savov by submission (arm-triangle choke). Round 2, 4:46
Josh Burkman defeats Tyler Stinson by KO. Round 1, 2:15
Johnny Nunez defeats Ozzy Dugulubgov by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Prelims:
Mike Corey defeats Shane Kruchten by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 2:59
Bryson Hansen defeats Sean Cantor by TKO. Round 1, 0:46
Chris Gruetzemacher defeats John Gunderson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Brenson Hansen defeats Boostayre Nefarios by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Danny Davis defeats Phil Dace by unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Jimmy Spicuzza defeats Gil Guardado by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 3:14
