UFC Bans Palhares Permanently

FightPhoto by Josh Hedges/Getty Images

UFC makes an example against excessive holds

By DJ Summers

History defines the UFC by an evolution of rules, and after UFC Fight Night 29, it looks like time for the next mutation. 

UFC President Dana White announced the UFC is permanently banning welterweight Rousimar Palhares from ever competing in the promotion again following a pattern of unsportsmanlike conduct.

In a welterweight fight of UFC Fight Night 29,  Palhares won his match against Mike Pierce by heel hook in the 31st second of the first round. Palhares secured the lock starting from a standing position with skill that would have been impressive if he didn’t hang onto it like a pitbull. After Pierce tapped, and tapped, and tapped, the ref had to separate them, leaving Pierce agonized on the canvas and the audience worried about the health of his knee. Twitter erupted with outrage.

Palhares has held onto that same heel hook several times in the past, with only tiny punishments to show for it. He got a mere 90-day suspension for his UFC 111 hold against Tomasz Drwal, and nothing came at all of a similar incident in 2007.

Immediately following the fight, UFC president Dana White said the UFC would withhold Palhares’s Submission of the Night bonus, which as the only submission of the night he was entitled to. White also promised additional disciplinary action, which today turned out to be a lifetime ban.

The UFC is making a powerful example of Palhares for this particular offense. He drew massive support from his Brazilian home, a home the UFC plans to enter with aplomb in 2014. Severing ties with Palhares says to other fighters that that behavior won’t be tolerated, even if they happen to be exciting, skillful, bankable stars.

Hitting after the bell is a sin in the boxing world, a sin that can cause some pretty serious damage to the person on the receiving end of the sucker punch. A leg lock held too long or cranked too hard can put a fighter out of commission for months and even years.

As clear a message as Palhares’s banishment sends, the UFC might be hoping to avoid having to add another rule to their ever-changing book to spare their fighters the extra care of worrying about judge's calls. The point has been made; if you hold onto a submission after a tap or after a referee’s order, you’re not in the game anymore.