Was Palhares Suspension After UFC 111 Justified?

By Eric Kamander

As has been reported, according to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board counsel, what Rousimar Palhares did to Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111 crossed the line into grounds for disciplinary suspension.

Is the 90-day disciplinary suspension a reasonable decision? Was Palhares at fault, or was Kevin Mulhall also to blame, or is this just the nature of the fight business? Should the damage done be considered?

Nick Lembo said Palhares did not properly heed referee Kevin Mulhall’s physical and verbal instructions to relinquish the hold, and that reviewing the tape
of Saturday’s fight showed that Mulhall told Palhares to stop and tugged on him three times as he was in the throes of the submission.

Lembo also took into consideration past fights in which he concluded that Palhares also maintained holds too long:
• vs. Fabio Negao
• vs. Helio Dipp
• vs. Flavio Luiz Moura
• vs. Pantera Negra

The replay shows that Palhares’ eyes were closed when the referee was approaching. The second image shows that Mulhall may have yanked on Palhares once and Palhares was releasing as Mulhall yanked the second time.

However unfortunate, I think what Palhares did was totally excusable. Fighting is dangerous business. I absolutely do not think they should consider the damage done. Any decision should be based purely on the actions, not the results.

I think it is reasonable that a fighter train to wait until the referee stops the fight and with leg locks you always risk giving up position if the submission fails. For Palhares his career was at stake in that submission. His eyes were closed when the referee went to stop the fight and the one second that it took for Palhares to realize that the fight was being stopped is really what we’re talking about. I thought it was all well within the rules and established precedence.

However, I can understand if the commission wants to establish a new precedent that fighters must be proactively aware of the potential for a fight being stopped once their opponent taps, though I don’t approve of a disciplinary suspension as the proper way to introduce such a change.

I would suggest that if these requirements are going to be imposed on fighters for the sake of fighter safety, then referees should also risk suspension if they are not proactively aware of the potential that a fight might require a stoppage.

As for Palhares’ 90 day suspension, it is only a formality because Palhares was most likely not going to fight again for 90 days.

Don’t forget to rate all the fights from UFC 111