It was the language barrier- Paul Harris didn't understand the rules.
UFC used to dom this shit all the time in the early 00s.
Here is the explanation I believe: The “24–5 after he beat Mike Pierce” number appears to come from a UFC.com recap that states the win “improves to 24–5,” but that tally does not match contemporaneous major coverage (ESPN reported Palhares as 15–5 around that bout), and it is not consistent with comprehensive record-keeping sites that track his full career outside the UFC; those databases commonly list him at 19–13–1, which reflects that (1) some early bouts are inconsistently classified across databases (so “baseline” records can differ by a fight), and (2) his post-UFC run included many additional losses plus at least one later result change (a Fight Nights Global decision that was overturned to a draw), which materially alters the headline totals over time.
That is a good question. I have no clue how the UFC built his record up to that. It doesn't line up with reality. It could have been a typo that was just carried on for a few years. I remember an infamous gaffe when the UFC announced/listed Kristian Rothaermel as 40-3 instead of 4-3 on TUF, and then he got handled by Bisping in a couple minutes.
This is a forgotten moment of dopesmanship
