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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Rousimar Palhares is persona non grata in MMA right now, with fans, fighters, and organizations turning on him in the wake of yet another instance of him holding onto a submission hold after his opponent has tapped out.
The UFC released him quickly on Thursday, with Dana White saying he'd never fight for them again. Bellator's Bjorn Rebney then said he agreed with the UFC's decision to release Palhares, and had no intention of bringing him in to their roster. Additionally, former UFC welterweight and now World Series of Fighting competitor Jon Fitch says he wouldn't ever agree to a fight with Palhares given his history.
"It was a second offense," Fitch said in an interview with Brian Hemminger at MMAOddsBreaker.com. "Holding onto a submission too long, especially with a joint lock like that. You're talking about ending someone's career potentially. I think it was the right move [to release him]. I personally wouldn't accept a fight with [Palhares] because of those. One time maybe, but not twice."
"I would never even compete against him honestly. If he's got that long of a history of holding onto them too long, his career should probably be done because no one should take a fight with him or a grappling match with him for that matter. It would be the first time in my career that I turned down a fight.”
Penick's Analysis: Palhares is in real trouble here, because no matter what he and his camp try to sell at this point, no one in the fight game is buying. Fighters don't want to get in the cage with him, because if they get caught they can't trust him to release a hold. Organizations don't want him because it's hard to convince someone to fight him in the first place, and his actions put a stain on whomever he's fighting under. It's going to take a long time for things to change on that front, too, and because he hasn't shown an ability to stop himself even after it's happened time and again, anyone distrusting him is in the right.
[Jon Fitch art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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