World Series of Fighting president Ray Sefo announced on Tuesday that WSOF is stripping Rousimar Palhares of his Welterweight Championship, and will be suspending him indefinitely following the controversy from this past Saturday’s event.
For those who missed it, you can view video footage here, which shows Palhares cranking on a kimura long after his opponent in the WSOF 22 main event, Jake Shields, tapped out. Additionally, Palhares is being accused of gouging Shields’ eyes repeatedly throughout the fight.
Sefo made the announcement of Palhares’ suspension and the fact that he is being stripped of his WSOF championship during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour” program, which airs weekly at MMAFighting.com.
“Not only did he do it once or twice,” Sefo said of the Palhares eye gouges. “He did it numerous times. And he was warned by the referee on four different occasions.”
Sefo continued, “I think the sad part of this is the guy is a great fighter. When Jake Shields is tapping nine times and the referee is tapping you six, seven times and literally pulling you off, that’s where people are gonna get hurt. We’re in a sport. We’re not in a war where we have to eliminate people.”
