Rousimar Palhares (Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)UFC veteran Rousimar Palhares is better known throughout Brazil and the jiu-jitsu world by his nickname, "Toquinho" the Portuguese word for "twist." It's a fitting moniker for a grappler that men of mat and cage have started to fear for the quickness and ferocity with which employs brutal, career-ending heel hooks and knee-bar submissions.
The 31-year-old fighter has been tearing three-letter ligaments since joining the Brazilian Top Team gym. The story of Palates' arrival -- which has by now been stripped of reality and succumb to the hyperbolic nature of legend -- is that he camped outside the entrance to BTT for three weeks until head trainer Murillo Bustamante allowed him to train. Once inside, the legend continues, he made short work of his new teammates.
By most accounts, Palhares was humble as he rose through the ranks of Bustamante's gym and attached himself to the teachings of the former UFC champion -- treating him as both father and coach. In return, Bustamante transitioned his star pupil from a life on the mats into a life in the cage.
The fights started simple enough; an arm bar submission here, some ground and pound there, but things got twisted at the 2007 Fury FC Middleweight Grand Prix in Brazil when Palhares submitted consecutive opponents by heel hook in the first round.
Toquinho made a smooth transition to the big money and bright lights of the Octagon at UFC 82, where he earned a Submission of the Night bonus for an arm bar of Ivan Salaverry. Next was a three-round decision loss to Dan Henderson. Palhares won two more fights by decision before entering the cage against the largely unheralded Tomas Drwal. The heel hook returned, but instead of letting go when Drwal submitted, Palhares held tight on the submission until the referee forced him to finally relinquish the hold.
In less than two minutes Toquinho had earned himself a reputation, and a 90-day suspension.
Maybe it was the suspension that rattled loose the mortar supporting the modesty and sportsmanship within Palahares, or maybe he's always been a little crazy, but in his return to the Octagon in September of 2010 the Brazilian was again out of sync with reality and in conflict with the referees. Facing off against fellow top contender Nate Marquardt, Palhares dropped to the leg for what he believed to be a sure-fire heel-hook submission. The crowd gasped, but Marquardt responded correctly and turned away from the action to gain separation. Palhares was left sitting on the mat in disbelief, but instead of protecting himself from the charging Marquardt, Palhares began to complain to the referee that he believed Marquardt had greased his leg (Would you have blamed him?). Marquardt took the opportunity to unleash hell on the Brazilian's head and secured a first-round TKO.
Marquardt would later be cleared of any wrongdoing and Palhares would apologize for his behavior, but yet again the Brazilian had shown odd behavior inside the cage, giving fans and other fighters pause to question his emotional stability.
Since their fight, Marquardt has been released from the UFC, while Palhares has continued to be quirky and controversial, even on the jiu-jitsu mat.
The Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) is the most prestigious no-gi jiu-jitsu tournament in the world. Fighters who win their weight class can earn as much as $20k, and Palhares, sniffing an opportunity to employ his twisting maneuvers on a set of men unable to strike him back, joined the 2011 competition.
He strolled through the first round of competition, his opponent tapping the moment that Palhares grabbed his leg from the standing position -- apparently having seen some of the damage Toquinho has caused to other fighters in recent years. Palhares next faced well-regarded David Avellan of Miami. The fight was progressing as normal until Palhares reached for a heel hook and earned the submission while going out of bounds. However, as they stood up to shake hands Palhares landed a hard head snap to Avellan, which he later claimed was an attempt to give the fallen competitor a hug. The referees granted Avellan a restart (Why is somewhat unclear, but Avellan's brother claims that the referee yelled "Stop!" before Palhares' submission attempt) and repositioned Palhares with a heel hook in the middle of the mat Avellan accepted the restart and after a quick spin-out attempt by the American Palhares switched into a knee bar and cranked, hyper extending the leg of the former ADCC bronze medalist.
Palhares lost to Andre Galvao in the finals, a man who had no patience for leg locks and who frustrated the fighter enough to even cause a point deduction for improper clubbing of the head.
At UFC 134 in August, Palhares was again out-of-whack when he assumed his fight against Dan Miller was over after several seconds of ground and pound and straddled the cage in celebration. Of course the fight wasn't over, and referee Herb Dean was forced to pull Palhares down and restart the action. He'd eventually earn the unanimous decision victory.
None of this bodes very well for Mike Massenzio. The New Jersey native is a salty striker and good wrestler, but was once submitted via triangle choke by Brain Stann. He probably hasn't felt the strength and speed of a heel hook like that of Palhares, and even if he has, nothing outside of the world's greatest grappler may be able to stop a motivated Toquinho.
Should the Brazilian lock up the submission lets hope that Massenzio feels the position fast enough to tap, and that Toquinho has the sense to let go. Otherwise Massenzio might be the next man to be retired by a twist of fate.
The Rise of Toquinho from stuart cooper Films on Vimeo.
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