M. Pierce (photo) attacked Toquinho before the duel in Barueri. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The atmosphere between Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares and Mike Pierce promises to be hot in the octagon of UFC Fight Night 29, which takes place on October 9th, in Barueri (SP). Unhappy with having the Brazilian – who debuts in the welterweight division – as his next opponent, the North American harshly criticized Toquinho, whom he called a “cheater” in an interview with the “ESPN” channel.
“There was that time when he clearly held (the submission) when the referee told him to let go and he was fined by the commission (at UFC 111). Then, recently, he tested positive for high testosterone levels (after fighting Hector Lombard), then this guy is certainly a cheater. It's no surprise. I'm going in expecting him to be mean, try to intimidate me, try to cheat. I just have to deal with it,” Pierce said.
Subsequently, the North American recognized the value in Toquinho's record, but complained about the confrontation due to the disparity between recent records. “Of course I'm angry. I want to start getting those main card fights against notable guys. Palhares faced some tough guys. He has a little bit of credit to his name, but I want to start working my way up. The guy is coming off two defeats and I'm on a four-win streak. Typically, they don’t set up fights between guys like that”, he concluded.
Comments