Rousimar Palhares - The MMA Monster

Rousimar Palhares is an elite BJJ black belt under Murilo Bustamante, Bebeo Duarte, and a professional MMA fighter. He has been an enthusiastic competitor since 2005. He won the Brazilian ADCC Trials on his purple belt and then began his career in MMA. Throughout his MMA career, he has competed against top wrestlers, winning via submission. Palhares is primarily known for his powerful leg locks. He was awarded the titles of Submission of the Night two times and the World Series of Fighting Championship once. Palhares is married and also has two children.

Rousimar Palhares was born on February 20, 1980, in a small town, Dores do Indaiá, in the interior region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. His parents were separated when he was a child, and he moved to Santo Antonio de Monte with his mother. Palhares was born into a low-income family with nine siblings, so he dropped out of school and started working in fields near his house to support his family. He used to care for the cows, build fences, unload cement trucks, and collect sand and junk. He often stated that there were times when they didn’t have anything to eat or drink. He used to watch wrestling competitions on television and was attracted to it. At the age of 15, he decided to pursue his career in fighting and joined jiu-jitsu training under BJJ black belt grappler Iran Brasileiro from Pantera Negra gym. He competed in a few local fighting competitions from the Pantera Negra gym and realized that he had the potential to become a professional athlete at the international level. So he borrowed 170 dollars from one of his friends and moved to Rio de Janeiro to follow his dream.

In one of his interviews, he said:

After moving to Rio de Janeiro, Palhares went to Brazil's Top Team Academy. He got the address from magazines and started training there. But as he didn’t have much money, he used to sleep at bus stops and fast to save money for food. When his gym owners find out about it, they shelter him. Palhares was promoted to blue and purple belt. At Purple Belt, he competed in the Brazilan ADCC Championship and won against top fighter Rumalo Barral. Still, unfortunately, due to his visa denial, he didn’t get a chance to compete in the finals.

This win made him one of BJJ's rising stars. On December 20, 2007, Palhares was promoted to BJJ black belt under Murilo Bustamante and Bebeo Duarte. They thought that Palhares was one of the naturally gifted grapplers of today’s world. 2011, Palhares traveled to the United States for his first professional match outside Brazil. Particularly well-known for his proficiency with heel hooks and knee bars, he placed second in the ADCC at 88 kg after using leg locks to defeat his first three opponents before falling short against Andre Galvao on points.

Rousimar Palhares always wanted to compete in wrestling. While competing in BJJ fights, he also appeared in MMA bouts. After winning multiple national grappling fights, Palhares went to the USA for the UFC 84 bout for the first time, which he won via submission. Palhares has competed against some top MMA fighters, namely Dan Miller, Mike Pierce, Alan Belcher, Jeremy Horn, and Mike Pierce, winning titles such as Submission of the Night and Third Most Submission Wins in the UFC Middleweight Division.

In 2013, Palhares competed with Mike Pierce at the UFC Fight Night. After the fight, he was subsequently released from the UFC for not letting go of the submission when the referee stopped the fight. Palhares then debuted at the World Series of Fighting in 2014 against Steve Carl and won the WSOF Welterweight Championship trophy title. Again, in 2015, he was released from WSOF due to a violation of the rules. He then fought in various Italian, Polish, and Russian private bouts.

Rousimar Palhares is a powerful BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts athlete. Palhares has a MMA record of 19 wins with 12 losses. His majority wins are via submitting his opponents with his favorite techniques, heel hook, and kneebar.

The legendary MMA fighter Rousimar Palhares shared his favorite jiu-jitsu positions, heel hooks, kneebars, and straight ankle locks to young athletes by conducting live sessions and seminars. After hard work and dedication, he has recently opened his training center, Palhares Jiu-Jitsu Team, for martial arts and prepared his team. Palhares also teaches martial arts to his son in his academy.

In the 2015 WSOF 22, Rousimar Palhares competed against Jake Sheilds. The about began with a leg lock by Sheilds and a kneebar against the master of leg locks, Palhares. Palhares released himself by punching his opponent till he bleeds. The fight continued, and Palhares won the bout via Kimura.

In the 2016 Venator FC 3, an aggressive match was held between Rousimar Palhares and Emil Meek. The bout lasted for just 45 seconds, and Meek won by punches.

In the 2014 WSOF 16, an exciting grappling fight occurred between Rousimar Palhares and Jon Fitch. Both the wrestlers started the bout with punches. Palhares then uses his favorite technique, kneebar, to drag down his opponent and win the fight, getting his opponent injured.

Materla makes his first move by punching Palhares, but Palhares gets on the floor, and his opponent submits him via triangle hold to an armlock. Palhares managed to release himself, and bout continued with punching and kicking by both fighters. Round 2 again began with punches and elbows. Materla beat Palhares with punches and won the fight via Knockout.

Georgy "Knight" Kichigin (Russia) vs Rousimar Palhares (Brazil) | KNOCKOUT, MMA fight HD

Rousimar Palhares vs Steve Carl (Welterweight Title Bout) | WSOF 9, 2014

Rousimar Palhares vs Aliaskhab Khizriev

Fight of Alan 'The Talent' Belcher Rousimar 'Toquinho' Palhares

Photo Credit: @toquinhomma