There's never a shortage of registered armchair psychologists in the world of MMA.
"Registered," in this case, meaning the result of people who have successfully inputted username and password combinations to gain access to media such as forums and Twitter, which they then use as de-facto licenses to assess and interpret mental health.
Rousimar Palhares' manager, Alex Davis, thought it might be slightly more prudent to seek out the expertise of an actual, licensed clinical sports psychologist following a series of head-scratching episodes involving his client.
Currently, there are only questions surrounding the Brazilian fighter's recent behavior, which has included blatantly ignoring referee instructions, wrongfully accusing opponents of cheating, and just about everything in between.
Why does it always seem like he's trying to bend the rules? Does he simply lose focus under pressure? Is he a dirty fighter? Could there be something more serious going on regarding his mental fitness?
Questions, questions, questions.
Palhares (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) remains scheduled to fight next month at UFC 142 against Mike Massenzio (13-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) on Jan. 14 on UFC 142's main card at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena.
"It's a mixture of things," Davis recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "There are a lot of variables. Yes, Rousimar is a very simple person. He comes from a very simple background. He comes from a background that somebody here in the United States would have a very, very hard time understanding.
"But he does tend to go on automatic a lot, and that's something we are trying to straighten out."
Let's be clear: Palhares has had way more fights go off without a hitch than not. But there's always a sense at any moment the wheels can come flying off. And when they have, it sticks out in people's minds.
UFC 111 in March 2010 is really when we were first introduced to the bizarro world of Palhares, though nobody knew it at the time. It took Palhares all of 45 seconds into the first frame to lock on a heel-hook submission against Tomasz Drwal. The problem was he held onto the submission after referee Kevin Mulhall's initial attempt to halt the bout. Meanwhile, Drwal writhed in pain.
The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board suspended Palhares 90 days.
Next came the incident in the main event at UFC Fight Night 22.
In the first round, Palhares found himself on his back against Nate Marquardt following a failed leg-lock attempt. He immediately proceeded to look up at referee Herb Dean while also gesturing toward Marquardt's legs, meaning he was trying to signal the reason he could not get the submission hold was because Marquardt had something slippery on his legs. Marquardt, who recognized the minor mental meltdown instantly, attacked with ground-and-pound strikes and earned the stoppage victory.
Palhares again drew attention to Marquardt's legs following the bout as they embraced and still tried to plead his case. But when it was all said and done, Marquardt had done nothing wrong outside of sweating more than Palhares would have preferred.
"I am a witness that there was nothing (illegal going on)," Davis said. "Marquardt's legs were shaved and smooth as a baby's, but there was no oil, nothing on them. You can't do that when you fight. And Rousimar has to develop in that sense."
That's "WTF" moment No. 2 if you're scoring at home.
No. 3 was bestowed upon us roughly a year later at UFC 134 back in August, where Palhares faced Dan Miller. (Palhares did make it through a submission win over Dave Branch just prior without any trouble rearing its head.)
In the first round against Miller, Palhares connected on a perfectly timed high kick that dropped his opponent to the canvas. Palhares moved in to end the fight with ground-and-pound strikes. After a few heavy punches, however, he walked away thinking he had won and jumped up to straddle the cage to bask in the glow of victory.
The only problem was the ref never stopped the fight.
If there were a tent draped over the arena at that moment, it would have had a circus. Still, Palhares went on to earn the unanimous-decision victory.
Broadcaster Gus Johnson once infamously said, "These things happen in MMA."
Well, "things" happen in Rousimar Palhares' fights.
A lot of them.
And, most recently, we've learned it's not unique to the octagon.
A month after the Miller fight, Palhares competed in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Wrestling World Championships, where he earned a silver medal in the under-88kg division. Palhares defeated Dan Schon, David Avellan and Rafael Lovato Jr. in succession before falling to Andre Galvao in the finals.
Almost on cue, there were a couple dicey moments along the way.
In the Avellan match, there was confusion after Palhares recorded a takedown and secured a heel hook as the pair headed out of bounds. Palhares stood up to celebrate, and Avellan complained. The referee appeared to tell both competitors to stop at one point, and Palhares cranked on the submission anyway.
In the Galvao match, Palhares pulled his thumb back to break a grip, which is illegal. The referee paused the match and warned Palhares, the pair restarted, and Galvao continued to complain. Moments later, Palhares was warned for trying his best to rough up Galvao in the clinch.
At this point, Palhares' awkward moments have been funneled to form some sort of warped idiom.
Nothing would surprise anyone at this point. And to a certain extent, the accumulation of the unusual has overshadowed his accomplishments in the UFC.
It may come as a surprise to many that Palhares has won five of his past six fights in the middleweight division. How many other guys can claim this fact?
"He definitely has the qualities to run for that title," Davis said. "He is a very, very difficult opponent for any of the top guys in his division.
"He's a monster. Put him against (champion) Anderson (Silva), and it's going to be a good fight. And he's not going to back down from Anderson."
In the meantime, the MMA community is hoping he gets any help he may need and figures it out. This includes the armchair psychologists, who are now looking for work elsewhere.
Source: UFC 142's Rousimar Palhares seeing sports psychologist following bizarre incidents