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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=449243" target="_blank">
Manager explains Palhares subs
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=449243" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=60&q=75&x=73&y=24&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=rousimar-palhares-12-18-2014-0-29-45-127.jpg" /></a>
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<p>There is a common misconception among casual fans of mixed martial arts that a submission should be applied to get a tap, not joint damage. The fact is, a submission need not be applied any more gently than a knockout. Further, fighters are instructed to stop not when the opponent taps, but when the referee tells them to stop.</p>
The signature case of this was when Murilo Bustamante fought Matt Lindland at UFC 37 in 2002. Lindland tapped and Bustamante released hold, but it was missed by the referee. Bustamante ended up having to tap Lindland twice.
Bustamante learned from the experience, and went on to train Rousimar Palhares, and teach his student that you don't release a hold when the opponent taps, you let go when the ref says to. This lesson is repeated by the referee to the fighter back stage at big shows - "release the hold when I tell you to, not when your think your opponent taps."
Palhares successfully defended his WSoF welterweight title last weekend, tapping Jon Fitch. Palhares held the leg lock for a fraction of second past being told to stop by the referee, and there were calls from some quarters for punishment, or, bizarrely, even banning.
In his latest article for MMAJunkie, Alex Davis defends Palhares. Davis is a former national Judo champion in Brazil and the US, a co-founder of ATT, the manger to a number of top fighters including Antonio Silva, Edson Barboza, Thiago Tavares, Fabio Maldonado, and Palhares, and one of the most principled figures in our sport.
Typically, a fighter does not want to lose, and he will only tap once the hyperextension and, consequently, the injury occurs.
And I will expand here and enlighten the ignorant – the majority of the submissions we see on TV cause injuries because of this hesitation; they are just not as graphically impressive! The injuries caused by Rousimar’s submissions have already occurred when the referee steps in. The same thing happens with chokes. Anybody here notice how many times chokes put guys to sleep? It’s the very same phenomenon!
These are facts of this sport. They are facts which the casual fans – and I will include the majority of the journalists who have turned into specialists in only a few months in this category – do not understand!
To see Rousimar crank on someone’s leg and hyperextend it is not pretty – not even to me. It is disturbing, to say the least. This man is extremely powerful; he is built like a vice. He is also extremely precise in his technique. But he is doing nothing wrong. He is going out there to win the fight, just like anyone else. He is not malicious or a monster, like some here would have us believe.
This is a sport based on causing damage to one’s opponent. It’s the reality of the sport, and the guys that go in there to fight are perfectly aware of this. Broken noses, broken jaws and huge gashes are also part of MMA, along with hyperextensions. And to tell Rousimar to go easy on his submissions is like telling Mark Hunt to go softer on his knockouts
Rousimar is doing nothing wrong. He has been victim of the fact that he looks like something out of a horror movie and cannot speak English, which turns him into a prime target for people out there looking to increase traffic on their websites. Everyone wants to read about how evil Rousimar Palhares is: He is so bad that he got cut from the UFC because his badness went viral!
I will give all the fruit cakes out there voicing their feelings on Rousimar and his submissions this: They are not pretty. But they are part of the sport, as are all the other harmful and brutal techniques used in MMA! As I said before, this is a sport based on inflicting damage to your opponent. And if you cannot deal with that, you should be watching something else.
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