Mixed martial arts champ Rousimar Palhares may have won over Jake Shields in last Saturday’s WSOF 22 event, but it looks like he may have to face a possible disciplinary action and a cut from his potential winning pay because of the controversial submission he made towards the end of the fight.
With Palhares’ win over Jake Shields, he should have earned $80,000 along with the WSOF title. However, due to the controversial events, Palhares only got $23,975 of his entire winning amount. The Nevada State Athletic Commission opted to hold the $40,000 win and the board will have to review the controversial fight where Shields tapped to a kimura in the third round.
Due to the commission’s new anti-doping rules and fees for the taxes, an additional $16,000 has been deducted to Palhares’ prize money. The anti-doping policies state that 10% of the fighter’s prize money should be withheld until after the results of drug testing come out. Bob Bennett, the Executive Director of NSAC, released these statements in a recent interview. The other fighters like Jake Shields and Sheymon Moraes also had their 10% be withheld in compliance to the policy. Bennett further revealed that Palhares’ pre-fight urine test results should be coming out soon.
Palhares made a couple of violations during the MMA fight. The first one was when he continued to twist Jake Shields’ arm even after the referee, Steve Mazzagatti, instructed him to stop. The second one was his eye-gouging moves during the second round. He was repeatedly warned during the fight because of this. And lastly, he held on to the kimura move even though Shields already tapped a couple of times. After the fight, WSOF officials revealed that Palhares might be stripped off his title.
Jake Shields immediately complained to the referee about the eye gouging that Palhares made. He even punched Palhares after the fight that the referee had to break them up. Shields then continued to curse Palhares while they were constrained because of his frustration on what took place in the fight.
Due to this controversial incident, Bob Bennett asked for a copy of the fight from the WSOF for review. He will then release a recommendation as to what sanction should be appropriate for Palhares, in case the fighter is indeed guilty of the accusations. He further mentioned that the commission has the power to carry out necessary disciplinary actions against the fighters but he refused to give out other information about the possible litigation.
The executive director also admitted that he will be taking a look at Shield’s behavior. However, he refused to answer when he was asked why Shield’s pay was not put on hold.
During the interview, Bennett said that they are taking into consideration all the possible options to ensure that the sanctions given will be fair to all the MMA fighters. “We’re considering all the options that are available to us based on the actions of both fighters at the end of the fight. Prior to the fight, he was given pre-fight instructions by Steve Mazzagatti because we were well aware of his history in extending the submission once the fighter tapped out,” he explained.