NO! Bad Toquinho! Naughty Boy!

I will NEVER roll with Rousimar Palhares.  never.  Even if he's teaching a free seminar in my garage.  Even if he's offering me money for it.  I like my legs where they are.  Sure, they could be less white and hairy,  but they've gotten me around for nearly 30 years and have even helped me run races.  What Palhares (or Paul Harris on MMA forums and blogs) did to Mike Pierce last night was simply unacceptable.  He has lost me as a fan and as a supporter.
Podcaster Dan Carlin calls history the autobiography of a madman.  Palhares' career has another study in lunacy.  You always know something weird is going to happen.  Whether it be a pre-emptive celebration including climbing the cage before a fight is over or getting knocked out while looking at the ref to whine. Palhares is either diving for a leg lock and holding a submission too long or just having mental lapses.  The utter definition of having a screw loose.  However, you never want to be locked in a cage with an elite grappler that has a screw loose and looks like this:

Palhares is a leg lock specialist.  For those of you who have never been caught in a leg lock, I wouldn't suggest it.  They go from no pain to not being able to walk for months in a split second.  If someone holds on to a choke for a couple seconds too long, the worst that can happen is you wake up with everyone standing over you and then can keep going.  (Unlike the movies where people die after being locked up in a rear naked for ten seconds.) Arm and should locks usually require a build up that lets you know that you're about to tap.  Leg locks are instantaneous pain.  As a BJJ white belt, I am not allowed to use them, neither in competition nor in practice. They do not trust novices with such a damaging move.  However, as a combat hapkido brown belt, I've carefully dabbled with toe holds, heel hooks, figure fours, and knee bars.  Those were the days that the instructor kept the closest eye on us. 

Maybe I'm unfairly biased.  I was not surprised or this mad at Paul Daley when he pulled his "movie bad guy" punch after the bell.  Maybe it's because Daley's always been known to be a punk.  Maybe it's because I've always wanted to punch Josh Koscheck as well.  I'd really like to think it's because I hold martial artists to a higher standard.  Any good school will teach you about respect as your first lesson.  Respect is interwoven into every lesson afterward. It does not matter how many years you train or what style you are in, the basis of martial arts is respect.  When someone submits, it means that they can do more.  They are completely in your control.  You are the Roman patrician with the power to give thumbs up or down.  99.9999999% of the time it's a thumbs up.  My instructors, when rolling with me, spend more time making me fight out of bad positions and try out new techniques rather than tap me out every 15 seconds. Guys like Toquinho (aptly meaning tree stump) make the Cobra Kai fighters from Karate Kid plausible.  While the rest of us are out there to better ourselves and enjoy healthy competition, he seems to be in it for the sheer joy of hurting people. 

The UFC cut and banned Palhares after the fight.  Good.  I don't want him back.  He disrespects and insults something that many of us have dedicated our lives too.

Here's a wonderful example of Toquinho at his "best," holding on to a lock while clearly out of bounds and with the ref attempting to stop him and then smacking his opponent in apparent apology while clearly confused by the whole situation.