WSOF 9 Results Recap: Rousimar Palhares Wins Welterweight Gold With Lethal Heel Hook
World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 9 is in the books from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and controversial Brazilian submission wiz Rousimar Palhares has gained the WSOF 170-pound championship just one fight after getting banned from the UFC for life following his heel hook victory over Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 29.
As most expected, “Toquinho” got an early takedown. Carl sought an ill-fated triangle, but Palhares grabbed his leg and the end was near. He locked on an inverted heel hook that had Carl wincing in pain and tapping out only one minute and nine seconds into the headlining bout.
He released it a lot earlier than against Pierce (or his previous suspension-inducing crank on Tomasz Drwal), but referee Yves Lavigne appeared to pry “Toquinho’s” hands apart at the finish. WSOF President Ray Sefo was quick to say that it was not a late hold by Palhares, and even Carl gave him credit for being a slick ground artist.
Like him or not, there’s not much denying that Palhares is one of them most dangerous welterweights in the world solely because of his cringe-inducing leglocks.
He’ll now move on to face former UFC welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch for the belt this July.
Marlon Moraes faced off with Josh Rettinghouse for the inaugural WSOF bantamweight title. Moraes exploded out of the gate, rocking Rettinghouse with a big left hook. Moraes swarmed with another combo and then went for a rear naked choke on the ground. Rettinghouse actually fought back and scored a takedown.
Moraes worked his trademark leg kicks in the second, but Rettinghouse showed incredible toughness. But the kicks took over in the third. Rettinghouse was badly hurt and ended the round eating a ton of knees against the fence.
Moraes had his opponent in major trouble in the championship rounds, but Rettinghouse miraculously persevered to lose a clear-cut unanimous decision.
Former UFC middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami made his WSOF debut against Svetlozar Savov. Fighting his first bout in the U.S., Bulgarian-born Savov actually had the best of the early striking exchanges. However, “Thunder” eventually got the bout to the mat and dominated with ground and pound shots. The trend continued throughout the second until the final minute, when Okami locked on a tight arm triangle choke to force the stoppage.
Coming off a title loss to current WSOF 170-pound champ Steve Carl, Josh Burkman was looking for a comeback win versus Tyler Stinson. The former champ got just that in a largely slow first round, that is, until Burkman uncorked a massive right hook that had Stinson out cold.
The main card kicked off with Johnny Nunez facing Ozzy Dugulubgov at lightweight. It was a fast-paced affair between two high-level wrestlers, but ultimately Nunez rode a solid second round to a close split decision win in his WSOF debut.
WSOF 9 Main Card Results:
Rousimar Palhares def. Steve Carl via R1 submission (inverted heel hook; 1:09)
Marlon Moraes def. Josh Rettinghouse via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
Yushin Okami def. Svetlozar Savov via R2 submission (arm triangle choke; 4:46)
Josh Burkman def. Tyler Stinson via R1 KO (punch; 2:15)
Johnny Nunez def. Ozzy Dugulubgov via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Photo: Jason Silva for USA TODAY Sports
