WSOF

On a Saturday night chock-full of combat sports, World Series of Fighting 10 wrapped up quickly. Topped by three title fights, we saw one champion get minted, one champion get dethroned and one champion establish himself among the pound-for-pound best in the world.

The headlining bout, a showdown between Jesse Taylor and David Branch to name the promotion's first middleweight champ, saw Branch take a surprisingly quick win. Taylor shot for a takedown as soon as the bell sounded, but Branch sprawled with ease, prompting Taylor to pull guard with a guillotine choke. Branch defended without incident and turned his way into a brabo choke, which forced Taylor to tap shortly thereafter.

It was a surprisingly quick win between two grinders, but it showed that Branch is not somebody to be trifled with. He will almost certainly face fellow UFC veteran Yushin Okami in his first title defense.

In the night's co-main event, Roufusport's Rick Glenn pulled off a big upset over the heavily favored Georgi Karakhanyan. The fight got off to a fast start as Karakhanyan got deep on an armbar attempt and nearly tore his arm apart a la Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 1. Glenn miraculously escaped and attacked Karakhanyan with savage ground-and-pound to, quite possibly, steal the round. 

In the second, the two exchanged blows before Glenn stuffed a takedown attempt, worked Karakhanyan to the cage and unleashed savage strikes. While the now-former champ would survive the round, he was unable to answer the bell for the third due to a broken rib and was declared the loser by TKO.

Glenn would receive his belt, flanked by Ben Askren and Duke Roufus, and sent a strong message to WSOF's entire featherweight division.

Congrats to @gladiatorglenn new champ!!!! pic.twitter.com/aVkkZmjMgG

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) June 22, 2014

Women's strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar made Emi Fujino look every bit the jobber she was supposed to be with an absolutely dominant win. Aguilar busted up the challenger with punches in the first round and kept her a bloody mess for all 25 minutes of their fight.

It was every bit the squash match people expected, and Aguilar looked every bit the elite talent she is billed as, scoring a unanimous 50-44 decision victory.

Unfortunately, this is the only kind of fight we can look forward to from "Jag." With Invicta and the UFC both scooping up all the strawweight talent they can find, WSOF has no serious opponents for her and few prospects it could build toward such a fight. 

UFC castaway Tyson Griffin and Pride Bushido veteran Luiz Firmino combined for what was quite possibly the best fight of the night. Firmino asserted himself early, getting the better of Griffin with punches. Griffin would bounce back nicely in the second, landing heavy punches and taking Firmino's back. Unfortunately, Griffin's iffy gas tank got the better of him, and Firmino took advantage late to secure the decision win.

In the opening fight, Team Alpha Male prospect Lance Palmer absolutely ran through Nick LoBosco. The four-time All-American wrestler scored a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight, worked his way to back position and poured on uncontested punches for minutes on end before sinking in a rear-naked choke.

It was an eerily dominant win by Palmer, and it certainly made him look like one of the best featherweights outside the UFC.

The full results are as follows, per MMAFighting.com's Guilherme Cruz:

Main Card

• David Branch def. Jesse Taylor via submission (D’Arce choke) at 1:41 of Round 1
• Rick Glenn def. Georgi Karakhanyan via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
• Jessica Aguilar def. Emi Fujino via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) 
• Luiz Firmino def. Tyson Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) 
• Lance Palmer def. Nick LoBosco via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:15 of Round 1

Undercard

• Derrick Mehmen def. Dave Huckaba via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-27)
• Timur Valiev def. Adam Acquaviva via TKO (flying knee) at 1:35 of Round 3
• Krasimir Mladenov def. Angel DeAnda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Marciea Allen via TKO (elbows) at 3:01 of Round 3
• Jimmy Spicuzza def. Justin Jaynes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• A.J. Williams def. Tanner Cowan via TKO (strikes) at 0:44 of Round 1

World Series of Fighting (WSOF) matchmaker and executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz saw the recent shakeup at Bellator MMA coming, and he wasn't alone. 

MMA journalists such as MMA Fighting's Luke Thomas and Fox Sports' Mike Chiappetta said that grumblings of Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney's departure could be heard as long ago as 2012, making his eventual split anything but a surprise. 

To Abdel-Aziz, the move, while not shocking, represents a key moment for the sport of mixed martial arts. 

"It's a victory for MMA that this individual is out of the sport," Abdel-Aziz told Bleacher Report. "It's great for the sport to get these promoters who want to come and hold guys hostage on their contract out. Listen, you can keep your champion and try to protect your contract sometimes. You just have to be fair to guys and give them title shots when you need to. When it comes to hurting people's families and taking guys to court and all this stuff, it's not worth it."

Like Rebney's exit from Bellator, Abdel-Aziz's sentiment is not startling. He previously challenged Rebney to a cross-promoted event, Bellator vs. WSOF. He's called Rebney a "candyass," his actions "dirty" and "slimy."  

The WSOF matchmaker did acknowledge Rebney's successes, complimenting the former Bellator executive on his longevity and the positive impact he had on the sport and its fighters.

"You also have to give this guy credit, though, because he put on 121 shows, he started a promotion to give guys some fights," Abdel-Aziz said. "He did something positive, for sure. I personally wish him the best of luck in whatever he does."

Now that Rebney is gone, though, Abdel-Aziz looks forward to a cleaner, more professional MMA landscape. He thinks newly named Bellator President Scott Coker can do great things for the sport, and he eagerly anticipates the new Bellator regime. 

"Now they want to clean up their image, and they bring in a gentleman like Scott Coker, who is an unbelievable human being, a great guy, and now I think it's great for the sport," Abdel-Aziz said. 

And while he said that he doesn't wish to publicly challenge Coker—a man he respects—to a Bellator vs. WSOF show, Abdel-Aziz talked about how such an event would look. 

"Scott is somebody I respect. I might pick up the phone and say, 'Look, dude, let's do it,' but he's too smart, too clever," Abdel-Aziz said. "He probably won't do it because right now our roster is too strong, too talented versus the Bellator roster…If we beat them—and we'd beat them—five to zero, that would not help their promotion." 

While this concept is fun and interesting for the promotions and the fans alike, Abdel-Aziz knows he has something successful at home, something that he's building with a band of young, talented fighters and established veterans competing side by side. He's proud of this product, and he works day and night to ensure that the WSOF becomes the world's No. 1 MMA promotion. 

"Honestly, I believe as soon as we did our NBC deal on July 5, Newell vs. Gaethje, we separated ourselves. You got the UFC on Fox. You got us on NBC. Now, everybody comes third and fourth and fifth and sixth, because we're on network television. It's a completely different ballgame," Abdel-Aziz said. "If you wake up in the morning wanting to be No. 3, you're going to be No. 10. If you want to wake up No. 2, you'll be No. 5. But if you want to be No. 1, you'll be No. 1 because you have goals, you have energy, and you're challenging yourself. That's our goal. We want to be the best promotion out there."

The next two steps on the WSOF's road to No. 1 are huge. 

First, the promotion will run WSOF 10—a card featuring three title fights and the No. 1-ranked women's strawweight in the world, Jessica Aguilar—June 21. The company will then follow that card with WSOF 11 July 5 on NBC. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWjIuE_b33o

From there, things keep expanding. Abdel-Aziz said that the WSOF will host two cards on NBC this year (including WSOF 11), but next year it will "probably have more." In addition, he mentioned that holding a card live on pay-per-view is not outside the realm of possibility moving forward.

"Right now, we're trying to build our roster, we're trying to have our own stars…At some point do I think we'll have pay-per-views? Yes," Abdel-Aziz said. "I want to make a pay-per-view, and we'll make a whole bunch of money if we do it, but I don't think our time is here yet..I have my team working on some of the stuff, and we just want to take our time and do it and make sure we do it right."

For now, the present-day status of the WSOF is not too shabby. With a big-time upper management shakeup in Bellator and the UFC continuing to grow and expand, competition has never been healthier for Abdel-Aziz and company, and he's enjoying every second of the wild ride. 

"We're working hard, we're humble…I remember where I come from, and I remember what we need to do," Abdel-Aziz said. "It feels so good when we're putting on events, and we hand a guy a check and they support their family with it. For me, that's the greatest satisfaction ever."

Before there were punches and kicks, chokes and locks, broken noses and bruised necks, there was a field. 

And Georgi Karakhanyan ruled it. 

As a child growing up in Russia, the current World Series of Fighting featherweight champion did not see fighting in his future. He saw soccer, and he became obsessed with the sport. 

He would travel by train for 45 minutes, catch a bus for another 15 and then walk three miles just to get to the training facility. Once there, the mental and physical strain did not ease. Russian coaches are strict and vicious, according to Karakhanyan, and they mince no words when evaluating a youngster's progression. 

"The coaches are very strict, very straightforward," Karakhanyan told Bleacher Report. "If you don't play a good game, they'll tell you that you suck. They're not going to tell you, 'Hey, good job. We'll get 'em next time.' In Russia, there's no next time, there's no, 'We'll do it better next time.' They drill you. They talk s--t to you. You have no choice but to train and train and train."

After devoting his youth and adolescence to the sport, Karakhanyan's soccer career hit a wall. He had been playing professionally in Spain and San Diego, but after his home team disbanded, Karakhanyan had to look elsewhere. 

He went to Mexico, where he joined Monarcas Morelia, a professional team competing in the Liga MX. After playing six months for their reserve team, Karakhanyan got called up, but a complication derailed this opportunity and his soccer career entirely. 

"They wanted to sign me under a different name because they didn't want to pay a certain fee to FIFA," Karakhanyan said. "After that happened, I called and talked to my dad, and my dad said, 'No, you can't do that. You're behind on your high school credits. You need to graduate from high school.'"

As a 17-year-old who saw his dream career yanked away just as his fingers brushed against it, Karakhanyan said he fell into depression. He didn't play soccer. That part of him was gone. 

In its place, though, emerged a different sport, one that allowed him to exercise his frustrations and anger in a controlled environment. 

"I never had any thoughts of becoming a professional fighter," Karakhanyan said. "A friend of mine was doing jiu-jitsu over here in Riverside (California) and asked me to try it out. I tried it out, and I didn't like it at first because I was getting choked left and right."

Despite the adversity that every first-time jiu-jiteiro encounters, Karakhanyan stuck with the program and signed up for regular Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes. Six months into his training, he was asked to fight at a local King of the Cage event. 

He accepted a fight against 1-6 professional Brett Wooten at 160 pounds, and his fate was forever changed. 

"I remember walking down, my whole adrenaline rush, I was going crazy. By the time I got to the cage, I was tired," Karakhanyan said. "I ended up winning by guillotine, because that's the only move I knew."

Twenty-six fights and 22 victories later, Karakhanyan stands as the World Series of Fighting featherweight champion, and that same move—the guillotine choke—finished each of his last two fights. 

By his "fifth or sixth" pro fight, Karakhanyan stopped working construction and devoted himself full-time to MMA. He had a knack for the sport, and he felt he could achieve greatness inside the cage, a fact he attributes to his experiences as a child living in Russia. 

"Living in Russia, people over there are not smiling to you like over here. It's a very cold atmosphere," Karakhanyan said. "I don't know if you'd call it a crazy mentality, but as a little kid, it toughens you up growing up in Russia. Some things I've seen as a little kid, dead bodies, people jumping off of roofs, it's crazy." 

Now, Karakhanyan continues his journey against 14-2 professional featherweight Rick Glenn June 21 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 

While wearing the belt usually bestows a certain level of pressure upon its owner, Karakhanyan feels none of it. Currently riding a nine-fight winning streak, the 29-year-old former professional soccer player feels he's coming into his own as a fighter and competing in a sport that he loves. With that, there is no pressure. 

"I love what I do. I like to fight. If you love to do something, there's no pressure," he said. "I don't think I'm even known. I don't track any of that. As long as those paychecks cash and I can make money for myself to feed myself and my family, then I'm happy."

Lightweight mixed martial artist Jason High was recently released by the UFC after pushing a referee at UFC Fight Night 42, and he's already generating interest from other promotions.

During a World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 10 conference call Wednesday afternoon, WSOF President Ray Sefo and Executive Vice President/Matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz commented on High's release, expressing interest in the 18-5 professional fighter.  

"I'd be interested in Jason High for sure," Sefo said. "He's a great fighter." 

The controversy in signing High, of course, comes from the nature of his release from the UFC. Touching a referee in any capacity is a big-time no-no in the sport, and High crossed the line when he shoved referee Kevin Mulhall in the chest after his bout with Rafael dos Anjos.

Abdel-Aziz noted that this is definitely wrong and unacceptable, but he thinks that everybody deserves a second chance, including High.

"We're all human beings, we all make mistakes," Abdel-Aziz said. "It shouldn't end his career, and he should have to apologize publicly, like he did."

In addition to cutting High, the UFC famously released welterweight Paul Daley after the British fighter sucker-punched Josh Koscheck following their UFC 113 encounter. 

Sefo commented on this, saying that the UFC had to set an example in that situation and asserting that the WSOF would do the same. 

"There's been incidents that happened in the UFC that, obviously, they were setting an example and they wouldn't tolerate that," Sefo said. "And neither would we....We wouldn't tolerate anybody putting their hands on the ref." 

High, who spent most of his career at welterweight, dropped to lightweight for his most recent fight against Dos Anjos, and "The Kansas City Bandit" would instantly become a contender in either division should he join the WSOF's roster. 

Currently, the WSOF's welterweight title belongs to former UFC fighter Rousimar Palhares, while the promotion's lightweight strap will be contested July 5, as the undefeated 155-pound champion Justin Gaethje takes on challenger Nick Newell (11-0). 

What do you think of Sefo's and Abdel-Aziz's comments? Should the WSOF take a gamble with High? If so, who should he face in his first fight under the WSOF banner?

World Series of Fighting (WSOF) has a venue and a time for its July 5 WSOF 11 card. 

The event will take place at 4 p.m. ET at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, WSOF Executive Vice President and Matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz recently confirmed to Bleacher Report via text message.

WSOF 11 represents the first MMA event to be hosted on NBC, so stakes are high for the company and for the fighters on the card. 

"Without them (NBC), we wouldn't be here," Abdel-Aziz told Bleacher Report. "We couldn't ask for a better partner than they are." 

Looking to do its part to ensure an electric slate of fights, WSOF brass went all in with this event, stacking the card with a lightweight title fight, the WSOF debut of former UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard and a rubber match between Jon Fitch and Josh Burkman.

"Every fight we put together, the fights, the nights always deliver—every show," Abdel-Aziz said. 

In the night's main event, WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje (11-0) will face Nick Newell (11-0), the undefeated phenom who has quickly made a name for himself in the past year with two first-round guillotine victories under the WSOF banner. 

Gaethje has been on a similar tear, finishing all four of his WSOF fights since debuting for the promotion in March 2013. 

In 22 career fights between them, Gaethje and Newell boast just one decision victory, a fact which highlights their vicious killer instincts inside the cage. 

"Nick Newell is a phenomenon," Abdel-Aziz said. "The guy's got courage, he's got everything he needs. Nobody wanted to fight Justin Gaethje...except Nick Newell. And he earned the title shot, and I think it's going to be a lot closer than people think." 

Adding more intrigue to this event is the WSOF debut of Melvin Guillard, the former UFC lightweight who signed with WSOF in April. Guillard is one of the most feared strikers in the lightweight division, and if he gets past Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante on July 5, he will likely be next in line for the winner of Gaethje vs. Newell. 

Beyond the fighters on the card, it's worth noting that WSOF will kick off the event at 4 p.m. ET, giving it time to conclude before the UFC runs its July 5 card, UFC 175. 

On Sunday, July 6, the UFC will also host the finale of Season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas, so fight fans can look forward to a weekend-long binge of fights, beginning with WSOF 11 Saturday afternoon. 

World Series of Fighting (WSOF) welterweight standout Josh Burkman has signed a multifight deal with the promotion, according to WSOF Vice President and Matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz.

"Josh is one of the pioneers in World Series of Fighting," Abdel-Aziz told Bleacher Report. "We're very excited to have him on this multifight deal." 

In addition, Abdel-Aziz said that the company is targeting Burkman for a card in the "early summer," although he could not confirm an exact date or opponent. 

While nothing is official right now, a fight against Jon Fitch on the July 5 WSOF 11 card makes sense for Burkman at this time. 

Fitch was originally slated to face WSOF welterweight champion Rousimar Palhares before Palhares pulled out of the fight to care for his mother. After that, Jake Shields took Palhares' place against Fitch, but Shields also dropped out of the fight due to injury, according to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani. 

That leaves Burkman as the most logical choice to face Fitch next. 

The 33-year-old veteran is coming off a devastating first-round knockout victory over Tyler Stinson at WSOF 9, and with his new deal, it appears the promotion has faith in him to represent the company well and to continue to perform at a high level. 

"We really love having Josh on the roster," Abdel-Aziz said. "He's one of those guys who always brings it. He's never turned down a fight, and we're just happy to have him here." 

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as news of Burkman's next opponent surfaces.

You couldn’t blame World Series of Fighting if it felt a little beat up right now.

Frustrations appeared to be on the rise at the upstart MMA promotion last week, after welterweight champion Rousimar Palhares pulled out of a scheduled title defense against Jon Fitch in order to take care of his ailing mother.

Jake Shields replaced Palhares—a move that allowed WSOF to maintain a respectable co-main event for its July 5 show—but the 34-year-old Brazilian wild man will be missed.

Even if his excuse was a good one, Palhares’ withdrawal scuttled plans for what was shaping up as the company’s first must-see bout. It also came amid a three-month stretch where the organization lost both Anthony Johnson and Andrei Arlovski to UFC returns and squabbled with Josh Burkman after the 170-pound contender took to Twitter to ask for his release.

In the wake of all this public boat-rocking, WSOF vice president and matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz told the media he’s getting fed up with fighters taking advantage of his promotion’s unique place in the MMA industry.

"We're getting screwed," Abdel-Aziz said last week, via MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. "I'm trying to put on a fight card and be nice to fighters, and now they don't want to fight each other. I have to put WSOF first and everyone else second. No more Mr. Nice Guy."

All threats aside, it’s easy to feel WSOF’s pain here. The company currently occupies a high profile but perhaps unenviable position in our sport: It’s big enough to attract well-known fighters but still small enough that few of them want to make it their full-time home.

Instead, elite-level fighters appear to treat WSOF like an airport layover. They want to get in, get a couple of wins under their belt and vault back into the Octagon, where they believe they belong.

Such is the reality of being a mid-major MMA promotion in 2014, especially one that maintains a friendly relationship with the UFC and has historically seemed to take pains not to cast itself as competition.

Recently, though, there have been signs that perhaps WSOF has higher aspirations, with Abdel-Aziz telling MMA Junkie’s John Morgan: “We try to be the best MMA promotion in the world. We cannot do that with fighters turning down fights.”

The organization wished both Arlovski and Johnson well in their future endeavors when they moved back to the UFC, but it will surely be difficult for WSOF to make many long-term plans if fighters and fans view it as little more than a pit stop on the path back to the big time.

“I don’t want people to get the misconception that we’re just going to release everybody to the UFC,” Abdel-Aziz recently told Morgan. “I believe fighters are trying to take safe fights, run their contract out and try to get released to the UFC. If fighters are going to act this way, I can’t put on any good fights for the fans.”

It’s a tough spot, and the real question may be what WSOF can do about it. Since the fall of Pride in 2007, the UFC has taken the mantle as our sport’s only real destination employer. Fighters who land at WSOF are probably legitimately pleased to be there, but most of them likely think of themselves as just passing through.

It’s possible WSOF has a choice to make here. If it is content to go on being the second- or third-best MMA organization in the world, then it likely has to get used to fighters treating it like a taxi ride back to the top. On the other hand, if it truly wants to be regarded as a contender to the UFC’s throne, maintaining a friendly relationship with Zuffa brass may prove impossible.

It can be one or the other, but probably not both.

Former UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard has signed a multi-fight contract with Las Vegas-based promotion World Series of Fighting. 

WSOF executive Shawn Lampman confirmed the news to Bleacher Report on Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

"We are pleased and excited to announce to the MMA world that Melvin Guillard has a new home at the World Series of Fighting," WSOF president Ray Sefo said. 

"I'm excited to start a new chapter in my career," Guillard said. "I feel like a new fighter and want to prove I'm one of, if not the best, in the world."

Guillard was released by the UFC last month after a loss to Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa. The loss was Guillard's third in his previous five fights. 

The veteran lightweight was a member of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. He made his official UFC debut with a win over Marcus Davis at The Ultimate Fighter 2 finale. Over the course of his UFC career, Guillard would amass a 12-9 record, with one no-contest. That stint included notable wins over Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau, Jeremy Stephens and Shane Roller.

Guillard experienced the best stretch of his career in 2010 and 2011, when he racked up five consecutive victories and neared title contention. But a loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 136 derailed Guillard's plans, and he would go 2-5 with one no-contest through the rest of his UFC career. 

Guillard's debut date for World Series of Fighting has not been determined. 

For a brief period of time on Thursday night, issues between Josh Burkman and his employers at World Series of Fighting seemed untenable.

Burkman expressed his disappointment with vague issues on Twitter, asking to be released from his contract. WSOF matchmaker Ali Abdelaziz responded to Burkman via Twitter, saying the promotion had been good to Burkman and had bent over backward for him.

On Friday, World Series of Fighting executive Shawn Lampman called Bleacher Report from the promotion's Las Vegas office. On the line with Lampman were both Burkman and Abdelaziz. Over the next 20 minutes, the trio shed some light on the roots of Burkman's frustration with the promotion.

Abdelaziz told Bleacher Report that his issues with Burkman had been resolved and that Burkman would face the winner of the title fight between Rousimar Palhares vs. Jon Fitch, which takes place this summer.

Burkman confirmed the news.

"We can get into this from time to time. Especially me and Ali, because it has happened multiple times," Burkman said. "But once it's resolved, it's resolved and we move on. And I'm very happy that they made it right and that I'm next in line to fight Fitch or Palhares."

Burkman told Bleacher Report that his issues with Abdelaziz and WSOF stemmed from his recent fight with Tyler Stinson. Burkman told Abdelaziz he wanted to fight on the card, but the promotion was already over its fighter-pay budget. Burkman insisted on fighting, however, and ultimately agreed to take lower pay than what his contract called for.

But though he agreed to take the pay cut, Burkman wasn't happy. After he knocked Stinson out, Abdelaziz came in the cage.

"I love you, Ali, but I don't like you," Burkman told the matchmaker.

"That's our relationship. I don't think it's going to change. I don't think it's the last run-in we're going to have over contracts or fights," Burkman said. "But at the same time, I appreciate the person that Ali is. Some things got blown out of proportion, and I didn't want that to happen.

"I like Ali, but he's kind of a pain in my ass sometimes. Which is kinda his job, right? What happens is that there are some changes and miscommunication in contracts, and I was unhappy about it. I should have voiced how I felt about it a little bit better, maybe before I fought Tyler Stinson. But I figured the time for me to voice my opinion was after I won. I probably should have done that before the fight instead of doing it after. We didn't all see eye to eye on it, but we came to a common ground. I appreciate how this has been handled."

Burkman said he was unhappy with his treatment after coming off a loss to Steve Carl last year.

"I didn't really like how I was treated. But I think that's how it is in our sport. When you win, everything goes smoothly. But when you lose, that changes," Burkman said. "There was a little bit of miscommunication. I wasn't real happy with the way it all went down."

"World Series of Fighting is a new company. We're about to announce a very big thing, and there are a lot of moving parts," Lampman said. "There was just some lack of communication. I think Josh had a reason to be a little upset. But I talked to Josh and we figured it out."

Lampman told Bleacher Report that the promotion on Friday paid Burkman the difference in what he should have contractually received for the fight.

"When a fighter is coming off a big win, they have an expectation. And I think sometimes things get lost in the shuffle. Not intentionally. I was talking to Josh, and I completely understood how he felt. On a couple of issues, we agreed to disagree, but we resolved it," Lampman said. "I think now, as Ali said, we have the making of an epic fight. Either Fitch vs. Burkman 3, or a war with Palhares. And Josh has the tools to beat both of them. It's an honor to have him in our company and as a friend."

Abdelaziz addressed Burkman directly.

"Josh, listen, me and you are going to become best friends," Abdelaziz said. "I'm going to come down there and maybe you can choke me a couple of times."

Burkman and Abdelaziz both expressed some regret in the way the situation played out over Twitter, but both chalked it up to the often volatile nature of social media.

"I'm a very emotional guy, and I speak my mind very loud. And when I saw the tweet, I got a little bit hurt. I kinda feel bad about it, because everyone started talking about me and Josh," Abdelaziz said. "And that's what people want. They want drama. I think I should have texted him, and he should have texted me. Whatever happens, me and Josh respect each other because we always speak our mind. No regrets. That is part of life."

Burkman agreed.

"I don't have any regrets. I made sure I thought about what I was going to say, and that I knew what I was getting myself into. I never said anything derogatory about Ali. I just said that, yeah, he can be a pain in the ass to deal with. I never said anything about World Series of Fighting except that I was unhappy and that, contractually, something went wrong.

"Social media is something else. You say one or two things, and then people ask you questions. And then it turned into something very big. Which is why I posted that WSOF has been mostly good to me. The people involved there are good people. So I wasn't trying to bash the WSOF in any way. I was just trying to get things fixed that I wanted to get fixed, and it has been done."

When asked by a fan on Twitter if Burkman wanted to fight the winner of Palhares vs. Fitch for the championship, the fighter responded by saying he didn't want the WSOF belt.

"Josh, let me ask you a question: Do you want that belt now?" Abdelaziz asked Burkman.

Burkman said he does, in fact, want the belt. 

"I definitely am very competitive. I think that comes out in the way I fight and negotiate. Now? I'm very interested in the Fitch vs. Palhares fight," Burkman said. "And I'm very excited for the opportunity to fight the winner. I want to be the best in this organization, and you need the belt to do that."

Rousimar Palhares proved he’s still an elite welterweight on Saturday at World Series of Fighting 9, taking the company’s 170-pound title from no-name champion Steve Carl in 69 easy, breezy seconds.

The 34-year-old leg-lock specialist showed he’s also still a lightning rod for controversy—both real and imagined—when referee Yves Lavigne needed two quick tugs to break the inverted heel hook that forced Carl to tap. Palhares turned the submission loose in a timely manner, but it still left Carl in a familiar pose for the Brazilian’s opponents: writhing on the mat holding his knee.

There was no real hullabaloo to be made here (even Carl immediately stood and limped over for a congratulatory hug), but MMA pundits beat the war drums a bit nonetheless. It has been a bit more than five months since Palhares was deemed too dangerous for the UFC, and it seems that reputation followed him across the aisle to WSOF.

His camp was quick to call shenanigans.

“Negative stuff always sells better than positive,” manager Alex Davis said, via MMA Junkie’s Ben Fowlkes. “People try to make him a villain because it sells. I’ve said this a thousand times. It gets hits on their sites.”

Silly indictments of the media aside, Davis is right about one thing. The process of being drummed out the Octagon and vilified as an unsportsmanlike, dirty fighter has unwittingly fashioned Palhares into one of MMA’s most must-see attractions.

In the coming months that infamy should serve both the fighter and his new promoters well.

They can publicly disparage it if they like, but privately they should be embracing it.

And really, they should be thanking their lucky stars.

Palhares is slated to defend his new championship against fellow UFC expatriate Jon Fitch this summer, and suddenly that fight shapes up as one true fans won’t want to miss. Everybody and anybody in the MMA community will be marking their calendars for Fitch vs. Toquinho for the same reason many of us tuned in to see the Carl fight this past weekend.

We want to see what Palhares will do next.

Fitch was dismissed from the UFC in February of 2013, most likely for commanding too high an asking price after going 1-2-1 in his last four appearances there. The 36-year-old American Kickboxing Academy product has long been maligned as boring and predictable but was a perennial title contender for much of his stint in the Octagon.

He’ll be a good first test for Palhares as WSOF champion. If the Team Nogueira wild man can dispatch Fitch with the same effortlessness we've seen in his first two appearances at the weight class, we’ll have no choice but to recognize him as one of the best welterweights in any organization.

If the mere presence of Palhares can make people honestly intrigued to tune in for a Fitch fight, well, that will be a major accomplishment in and of itself.

Palhares has always had the skills. Now he's got the notoriety to go with them.

After going 7-4 in the UFC middleweight division from 2008-12, he dropped to welterweight in October of 2013 and established himself as an instant contender with a 31-second tapout of Mike Pierce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsblWuiwMGY

Or at least he would have, if the end of the fight weren’t marred by his refusal to immediately break the hold when referee Keith Peterson intervened. It was far from Palhares’ first offense. He did the same thing against Tomasz Drwal at UFC 111 and had a couple of similar incidents earlier in his career.

After the episode with Pierce—who suffered a sprained MCL and a torn ligament in his ankle—UFC President Dana White dubbed it “really despicable” and banned Palhares (who had also tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone after a 2012 loss to Hector Lombard) from the company.

"He won't be back,” White told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “He can go fight with another organization. We don't put up with that stuff here."

And thus, in the weird, backward logic of the fight game, a star was born.

Palhares now occupies a strange and delightfully sordid position in MMA. He is regarded as among the most volatile and legitimately dangerous men in a sport full of them. As if professional cage fights needed added suspense, his bouts boast a titillating extra layer of unpredictability and menace.

Most fights end when a submission-hungry Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt gets a hold of his opponent’s legs. When Palhares is involved, that’s just when things get interesting.

His camp obviously thinks that’s unfair, but the truth is, his reputation has been well earned. What is more, it’s actually transformed him from being a bit-part player in the UFC into a marketable oddity on the independent scene.

Think of how unusual it is for a fighter to be released from the UFC under less-than-honorable circumstances and then go on to refashion himself into a bona fide draw in another organization. Now Palhares has pulled off that trick, adding himself to the very, very short list of interesting attractions in WSOF.

His fight with Fitch may well end up on the company’s July card, alongside Justin Gaethje's lightweight title defense against Nick Newell and the return of Tyrone Spong. That would likely make WSOF 11 far and away the promotion’s most appealing and best-rated event to date.

If Palhares winds up on the marquee as one of the show’s biggest drawing cards, it won't be in spite of his bad reputation, but precisely because of it.