Rousimar Palhares once again put his deadly leg locks on display when he returned to the cage after almost a year’s absence. Palhares appeared in the main event Fight Nights Global 70 on Friday, which went down live from the FSK Sports Complex in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Russia.
To say that he beat his opponent, Alexei Ivanov, would be an understatement. Rather, the former WSOF Champion devoured him with ease.
Right from the get-go, Palhares went leg hunting. Within seconds he scored a double leg and locked onto Ivanov’s leg. Alexei tried to roll out, but his efforts were futile. Less than 40 seconds into the first round, Ivanov screamed in pain while tapping frantically.
Rousimar has had a controversial history of holding onto submissions, but during the Friday event, he released his position as the referee ended the fight at exactly 37-seconds mark.
Alexei Ivanov is now on a two-fight losing streak following his previous defeat by Gennadiy Kovalev last December at EFN-Fight Nights Global 57. Before his last two losses, Ivanov rode high on a seven-fight winning streak between 2013 and 2016.
Palhares holds a 19-8 professional mixed martial arts record and snapped his two-fight losing streak with his win over Ivanov. He lost to Michal Materla at KSW 36 in October and suffered another loss to Emil Weber Meek at Venator FC3 in May last year.
Before the two losses, Rousimar was on a four-fight winning streak and sat atop the WSOF’s welterweight mountain as its champion. His reign ended, however, when the NSAC penalized him for holding onto a submission after the referee’s intervention.
