Former UFC welterweight-turned-World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion Rousimar Palhares made his return to MMA cage and faced undefeated Aliaskhab Khizriev in the co-main event of Fight Nights Global 85 on March 30, 2018, inside VTB Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia.
Aliaskhab Khizriev a 29-year-old Russian welterweight became an interim titleholder who just needed 58s to stop the Rousimar Palhares.
Before the match, the Brazilian Rousimar Palhares, who came overweight, was thus ineligible to capture the gold, got dropped with a kick early from Khizriev, but as soon as the action hit the canvas, he immediately attacked Khizriev’s leg, but the Russian shrugged him off and landed devastating ground-and-pound.
Palhares survived the initial flurry and was able to use his grappling, even getting into position for one of his infamous heel hooks. The Russian managed to keep the Brazilian on the mat and managed again in the ground and pound until the referee finally intervened just 58 seconds after the bout began.
Check out the memorable finish below:
Khizriev is now 10-0 as a professional.
In the meanwhile, it was a disgraceful outing for Palhares (19-9-1) and third knockout loss in his last five fights after being released from WSOF- when he failed to let go of Kimura on Jake Shields in an August 2015 championship win.
During his time in the UFC, his reputation as a feared submission artist was dominated by a failed drug test and in an event where he was holding onto a career-changing heel hook on Mike Pierce even after the referee waved for a stoppage, and thus the UFC released him.
Palhares drops to a dismal 1-3-1 in his last five fights.
