Saturday night for mixed martial arts was purely insane. While a very well known blonde haired fighter planted a less than known Brazilian woman on the canvas in another country, in Vegas it was all melee. The World Series of Fighting did the unexpected task of stealing some of the attention from this past weekend. To the casual viewer no, but for MMA diehards the names of Diaz and Nurmagomedov are very familiar but not for this particular promotion.
This was supposed to be a very good night for WSOF that showcased a fight card containing two anticipated championship bouts. In the main event Rousimar Palhares (18-6) defeated Jake Shields (31-8) by third round Kimaura, while Marlon Moraes (15-4) looked as spectacular as usual with his defeat over Sheymon Moraes (7-1). Unfortunately, these were overlooked as a brawl broke out in the stands and would continue on for the duration of the night.
Rousimar Palhares is a hated man in the world of mixed martial arts. While there is no denying his submission technique is better than average, his tendency to over commit has been his downfall. Repeatedly, he has been warned that he holds submissions too long and many feel that was the case on Saturday. Including his opponent Jake Shields, who hit Rousimar after the fight was eventually stopped by referee Steve Mazzagatti. Upon watching the ending over and over, there was a hesitance to let Jake go but really no different than most mixed martial arts fights tend to be. As said many times before, the fact that Toquinho is known for this and will call any finish he has into question.
One of the aspects of this fight that seems to be overlooked, is the fact that on the feet Rousimar lit up Shields with a variation of strikes that put Jake in tons trouble. The general public watching the fight marveled at how Shields escaped leg locks repeatedly and gained top position in the two early rounds. One fan on twitter even acknowledged that he felt Shields was taking Palhares “to school” as if he was unaware how good Jake is on the mat. Outside of the submission, there was also an issue with eye gouging as Jake complained over and over to the referee. There are moments where you can see the fingers of Rousimar enter the eye of Jake as he was trying to control Shield’s head position from his back. Steve warned Rousimar about the eyes but did not deduct any points so it's on him as much as anyone involved. Sensing the uproar for the first time, the WSOF brass stepped in and immediately said they are tired of this behavior. As of now they have not stripped Rousimar of his title, even though it has been mentioned before. So what they will do with their infamous welterweight champion, only Ray Sefo and Ali Abdelaziz know for now. The real question is, who is next for their champion? That question may not be answered until October when John Fitch takes on Yushin Okami.
Marlon Moraes is a rising star in the world of MMA and many feel one of the best talents outside of the UFC. He faced another Moraes the company is trying to build, in the previously undefeated Sheymon Moraes. The fight was very exciting, stand up affair in the early rounds. Sheymon had no issue pressing forward on the champion looking to land leg kicks to the body. Great counters by Marlon kept the distance from the challenger, but Sheymon showed every reason why the promotion should be excited to have this young athlete. In the third round the two mixed it up in a heated exchange that ended with Sheymon on the canvas. He was rocked by a hook from Marlon, who pounced on him to take the back and sink in the hooks for the submission attempt. Sheymon tried to fight it off but was unsuccessful and eventually tapped. Even with the clear cut victory, this was a very entertaining matchup that could possibly be run back if Sheymon was to get back in the W column in his next fight. Moraes’ recent signing of a deal with WSOF is huge for them as he will still be looked at as one of the best 135ers in the world. There are a few possible players that could be inserted in for the next title defense, but more than likely will be the young Dagfighter prospect Timur Valiev.
On the rest of the main card, Clifford Starks (12-2) was able to defeat Mike Kyle (21-13) on short notice. Thiago Silva had stepped in for the injured Tyrone Spong, but was denied a license to fight in Las Vegas. So in stepped Starks, who was able to win the decision over Kyle with a complete overall plan of attacks mixing his striking and takedowns effectively. Don’t be surprised to see him get a push towards the promotions newly formed light heavyweight title, as this is four-straight wins for Starks after his loss to Yoel Romero in the UFC back in 2013. Abubakar Nurmagomedov (10-1) tried his best to imitate his brother Khabib with a great performance over Jorge Moreno (4-1), spoiling his promotional debut. Islam Mamedov (12-1) continues to impress with a first round TKO over an outmatched Jimmy Spicuzza (6-3). Spicuzza failed at a guillotine attempt that allowed Islam to mount him. Jimmy ultimately gave up his back, which allowed Islam to lay down a vicious ground and pound eventually ending the fight.
By now you have seen the YouTube videos of the brawl between the Diaz brothers and Nurmagomedov camp. The fight started in the pit area of the event but eventually found itself in the lobby of the hotel. In the pit you could even see the WSOF brass getting involved in the fight, which ultimately led to them banning the Diaz brothers from any future events. Clearly they were there in support of their friend and teammate Jake Shields, but seems like they won’t be able to in the future. Not the best story coming out of Saturday’s event but not all bad publicity is bad publicity. Don’t be surprised if there are a few more eyes on September’s event, which is a good thing considering the first fight between Justin Gaethje and Luis Palomino was a classic. The full results from WSOF 22 are listed below.
Main Card:
Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields via submission (kimura) – Round 3, 2:02 – f Marlon Moraes def. Sheymon Moraes via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:46
Clifford Starks def. Mike Kyle via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jorge Moreno via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Islam Mamedov def. Jimmy Spicuzza via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:47
Prelims:
Jake Heun def. Davin Clark via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:46
Donavon Frelow def. Carlos Garcia via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:49
Marco Simmons def. Jimmy Jones via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:23
Cory Hendricks def. Julio Hinojosa via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:08
Gil Guardado def. Pete Martin via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:31