5 UFC fighters who held onto submissions for way too long

#5 Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares was cut by the UFC after cranking this heel hook on Mike Pierce

All of the previous fighters on this list held a submission for too long on just one occasion, and all four of them had their reasons for doing so, however sketchy those reasons might’ve been. Brazilian leglock expert Rousimar Palhares, on the other hand, became notorious for cranking on his submission holds for far too long, and even found himself released from two promotions for it.

‘Toquinho’ came into the UFC in 2008 with the reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous submission fighters, with the dangerous heel hook – a move which can destroy an opponent’s knee joint – being his speciality. The Brazilian quickly put together a record of 3-1 in the Octagon – with one trademark heel hook to his name – before getting into hot water during a 2010 clash with Tomasz Drwal.

Palhares again locked up a heel hook on his foe, but despite the Polish fighter clearly tapping out, ‘Toquinho’ chose to ignore both the tap and referee Kevin Mulhull’s attempts to stop the fight. Drwal was badly injured by the hold, and after the fight, Palhares was suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission for his actions.

3 years later, this nasty habit reared its head again; this time Palhares – who had dropped to 170lbs – faced Mike Pierce, and after locking in another heel hook, he again refused to release the submission despite Pierce tapping and the referee attempting to break the hold. Following this incident, the UFC decided to wash their hands of the Brazilian, and promptly released him from his contract.

‘Toquinho’ resurfaced in 2014 in the World Series of Fighting promotion, but controversy continued to follow him. After submitting Steve Carl and Jon Fitch – and again being accused of holding his submissions, this time an inverted heel hook and a kneebar, for too long – he faced Jake Shields, and after eye-gouging the veteran early in the fight, he submitted him with a kimura.

Again, Palhares was up to his old tricks, holding onto the kimura for far too long despite Shields tapping. The Nevada State Athletic Commission slapped him with another suspension – and WSOF quickly released the Brazilian from his contract.

Nearly a decade on, ‘Toquinho’ remains perhaps the most notorious submission fighter in MMA history, and despite plenty of attempts to explain his questionable behaviour, the truth is that we’ll probably never know the reason for his bad habit.