Rousimar Palhares looked to defend his welterweight title against Jake Shields last night at WSOF 22, and he did just that, but the manner in which he won has him left accused yet again of being a ‘dirty’ fighter.
Things started well enough for Shields who got an early takedown in the first round and maintained top control throughout that first five minute spell to nullify the submission threat of the Brazilian>
The second round began with more of the same as Shields again got on top, but he was cut over the eye as Palhares landed elbows from his back. Shields moved to mount though and that’s when Palhares began to fight dirty, appeared to claw at his opponents eyes with his fingers.
That resulted in a stoppage by the referee, Steve Mazaghatti who warned Palhares about his conduct, but the break only seemed to benefit the Brazilian as he was able to buck Shields off after they reset on the ground.
Shields was again in a takedown in the third, but Palhares got back upright and started to make headway in the striking exchanges. Shields opted for another takedown, but this time Palhares seized a hold of his arm on the way down and rolled on top with a kimura submission.
It was in tight and almost immediately Shields frantically started tapping, but as has been the root of a whole lot of controversy in the past for Palhares, he continued cranking on the submission for a second or two even as the ref also began tapping on him telling him loudly to stop.
Palhares did eventually let go, but by that point he had angered Shields enough that he actually threw a punch at his opponent from his back immediately afterwards, which prompted Palhares to stand up and raise his arms wide in celebration right in front of him.
So Palhares gets the victory and retains his title, but at this stage it’s not known if he will now receive any kind of punishment for his actions. He has so many prior convinctions for this – going as far as to be ejected from the UFC for the same issue – that it would seem dangerous to continue to let him compete which is a great shame as these antics are completely unneccessary and only detract from his undeniable talents.
There was more controversy on the night when the Diaz and Nurmagomedov brothers clashed in the stands at the show prior to the main event, but look out for more on that in a seperate article including video footage.
Earlier, in the comain event Marlon Moraes successfully defended his bantamweight title as he got the better of Sheymon Moraes, dropping him with a punch in the third round and then latching on the fight-ending rear-naked choke.
Check out all the WSOF 22 results below.
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Main Card:
Rousimar Palhares def. Jake Shields via submission (kimura) at 2:02 of R3
Marlon Moraes def. Sheymon Moraes via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:46 of R3
Clifford Starks def. Mike Kyle via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Abubaker Nurmagomedov def. Jorge Moreno via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Islam Mamedov def Jimmy Spicuzza via TKO (punches) at 4:47 of R1
Prelims:
Jake Heun def. Davin Clark via submission (arm triangle choke) at 2:46 of R3
Donovan Frelow def. Carlos Garcia via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:49 of R1
Marco Simmons def. Jimmy Jones via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:23 of R1
Cory Hendricks def. Julio Hinojosa via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:08 of R1
Gil Guardado def. Pete Martin via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:31 of R1
