Steve Carl (left) tries to defend a heel hook attempt from Rousimar Palhares

By FCF Staff

Although some fans are claiming Rousimar Palhares, once again, held on to a fight ending heel hook for too long at WSOF 9, the man who lost to the feared submission artist has no issue with the new champ.

Palhares quickly took Carl to the mat during Saturday’s headliner, and after breaking the welterweight’s guard, began hunting for a leg lock. The UFC vet forced Carl to tap out to an inverted heel hook not long after, but waited until referee Yves Lavigne intervened before breaking the grip (you can see the entire fight here).

Speaking after the bout, here is what Carl had to say about Palhares and the submission (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“It was extremely, extremely slick. Like, the positioning he went in was just amazing,” said Carl, who reportedly was limping after the fight and will undergo a MRI in the coming days. “Honestly, I was in danger by not knowing I was in danger. I thought I was out, but no, I was deep. Man, that quickly. I spun out of the heel hook and he switched over to the inverted, and as he said, it was already locked. It was already finished. As he spun over to it, his body positioning was perfect. Not a whole lot I could do there.”

“It all happened really fast, and the damage was done at that point. I got no ill will.”

WSOF President Ray Sefo and the promotion’s executive VP Ali Abdel-Aziz also argued that Palhares did not hold onto the technique for too long”.

Palhares, who laid claim to the welterweight title with the win, noted that he “doesn’t care” what critics might say, “I let go.”

The former middleweight was banned by the UFC last year after Palhares did not immediately release a fight ending heel hook versus Mike Pierce.