UFC
BTT's Murilo Bustamante says Rousimar Palhares stopped at UFC 134 because Dan Miller said to
Aug 29, 2011 - 8:55:15 AM BTT's Murilo Bustamante says Rousimar Palhares stopped at UFC 134 because Dan Miller said to

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The Spike TV Prelims for Saturday night's UFC 134 card brought about one of the oddest sequences in an MMA fight in recent memory.

After landing a devastating head kick to Dan Miller, Rousimar Palhares landed a few punches while standing over his fallen opponent and then began celebrating. However, referee Herb Dean had not stopped the fight, and as Dan Miller stepped right back to his feet, "Toquinho" was admonished by Dean, forced to climb down off his celebratory perch on the fence and the fight was restarted.

That's when disaster almost struck for Palhares, as Miller shockingly dropped him with a big combination and almost brought a controversial end to the bout. However, Palhares recovered and made it to the end of the round, then delivered a brutal beating in the second and coasted through the third to take the decision.

Palhares' trainer at Brazilian Top Team, Murilo Bustamante, took to Twitter after the event to give his explanation for "Toquinho's" behavior at the end of the first round.

"Just to clarify what happened during Toquinho's fight, he told me that he stopped because his opponent said 'stop, stop' when he was punching him hard," Bustamante wrote. "Then, he stopped [hitting] him and thought that the fight was over and went to celebrate. Who can say now that 'Toko' isn't a fair fighter? He is just too naive, but he has a big heart."

In rewatching the fight, something can be heard being yelled out while Palhares was delivering the follow up punches on the ground, but it's not clear where it was coming from. Furthermore, Dean made no motion towards stopping the fight, so even if Palhares heard something, he should have continued until Dean intervened.

Ultimately, Palhares won the fight, but the brief snafu nearly cost him the bout, and it's a lesson "Toquinho" will need to learn from moving forward in his career.

Penick's Analysis: This was nearly a disaster for Palhares, and was one of the strangest things ever seen in the middle of a fight. It was clear at the time that Dean hadn't stopped the fight, so it led to a lot of confusion as it was happening, and Miller then almost pulled off the shocking knockout afterward. Luckily for Palhares, he survived, and the incident lit a fire under him into the second round, where he brutalized Miller for nearly the entire five minute frame. It was an exciting back and forth fight, and the confusion of that moment will leave it a memorable fight for some time, but Palhares is just lucky his mistake didn't cost him the fight.