Palhares Wants Out Of WSOF, Asks NSAC To ‘Judge Me As I Should Be Judged’

Former UFC fighter Rousimar Palhares was stripped of his World Series of Fighting welterweight title and suspended indefinitely following his most recent fight against Jake Shields. In that fight he repeatedly put his fingers near Shields’ eye and seemed to scratch, or gauge them. Even after the referee warned him he continued to do so. Then, during the fight ending kimura he locked in on Shields, he refused to let go after Shields tapped and the referee tried to pull him away. Palhares has had issues with holding submissions too long in the past and WSOF had seen enough.

Now, he waits for his disciplinary hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is expected to go down sometime this month. Palhares recently talked to MMAFighting and said that he just hopes the commission treats him fairly.

“The only thing I expect about this hearing is that they judge me as I should be judged. Don’t let other little things impact their decision. I’m an athlete and that’s how I make a living, so I leave everything in God’s hands. Only time will tell. What I know is that I’m a man who fights for a living, to provide for my family, and that’s what I want to do.”

Another thing the fighter mentioned was that he no longer wants to fight for WSOF and already asked to be released.

“They didn’t want to talk about anything before the commission’s hearing, but I’m not interested in fighting for them. I asked to be released from my contract or fire me, but they won’t. I wanted them to release me so I can go my way, I don’t want to be part of this organization anymore. They didn’t appreciate me.

“My contract was over 20 days after my last fight, I asked them to release me, and they didn’t because they must know I don’t want to work for them anymore. Honestly, I don’t know what else they expect from me.”