R. Toquinho (photo) should debut at WSOF in February. Photo: Disclosure
After being fired from the UFC and harshly criticized for holding on too long with a heel hook on Mike Pierce, Brazilian Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares received another chance at the event World Series of Fighting. Recently hired by the organization, Toquinho must be careful not to make the same mistake again, something that had already happened in Ultimate. The warning was made by WSOF president Ray Sefo, at a press conference.
“I will not tolerate any of this nonsense that happened before. If it happens again (a safe finish), he’s gone,” said Sefo. The manager, however, said he believes that this type of thing will not happen to the Brazilian in the new event. ” It would be silly for that to happen again, because I'm pretty sure that if he does that here, he won't have anywhere else to go. But, again, (Minotauro) Nogueira and his team gave us their word that things will be good from now on, so let's wait and see”, he added.
Sefo also spoke more about the importance of conversations with Rodrigo Minotauro, Toquinho's mentor, and Renzo Gracie so that he could change his opinion about the Brazilian and agree on his signing. “This is a sport and I don’t want to see anyone get seriously injured or paralyzed because of nonsense. But after listening to Renzo Gracie, who is a jiu-jitsu master, and what he had to say about this particular incident, there were discussions and dialogue between our matchmakers, his team and the Minotaur. Nogueira gave us his word that he is working with Toquinho and helping him with his camp, and that they are trying to get him help too. All of these things together allowed me to look at it from a different perspective and talk to my team about it. So we decided that we would hire him”, he concluded.
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