WSOF Champion: “Good possibility” Palhares on PEDs

By Evan Stoumbelis

WSOF welterweight champion Steve Carl is slated to fight former UFC fighter Rousimar Palhares this Saturday on NBC’s sports network.

Palhares was released by the UFC following his heel hook win over Mike Pierce in which Palhares held onto the submission after Pierce tapped, forcing the referee to intervene and save Pierce from injury. Prior to that Palhares lost to Hector Lombard and tested positive for elevated testosterone levels and was suspended for 9 months.

After his release from the UFC, the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) picked up Palhares and gave him an immediate match for the title against their champion, Steve Carl.

Palhares has to pass a drug test prior to his bout with Carl, and the results will be in 24-48 hours before the fight so the WSOF has contender Tyler Stinson ready to step in should Palhares fail.

Carl spoke on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani about Palhares’ history with PEDs, and said:

“He’s known about this fight for a while. So I mean, there is a good possibility that he’s on something, because it’s definitely hard to take those types of steroids or supplements and stay a top-level athlete once you get yourself back off them. So, most athletes I think still take it and try to cycle off in time.

Carl went on to say:

“I hope he was smart about it and got his levels back down. There’s a lot of guys in this sport that do illegal things, but the thing is they don’t test for it. We get tested the day of the fight, and a lot of these people are taking the TRTs, and you can cycle off of it a week before and be completely fine going into the fight. I think that’s a huge unfair advantage for guys like me who go in there all natural.”

Stay tuned to BJPENN.com for the results of Palhares’ drug test within the next few days.