Recently in Renato Babalu Sobral Category

from m-1 global:
With former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort refusing to agree to former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi's challenge to meet at a catchweight, a new opponent for Mousasi has been secured for his first-ever fight on U.S. soil to take place on at Affliction: Trilogy.

Sources close to Mousasi have informed www,M-1Global.com that current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and former UFC competitor Renato "Babalu" Sobral is expected to finalized as his opponent.

Thanks to bloodyelbow.com for the find. I mentioned this on Saturday, after Sherdog.com reported it, and now we have some footage. Not sure what this was about, but who knows, maybe Tito will return to the cage to challenge Babalu for his Strikeforce LHW title.

Though not officially announced, it is confirmed by several sources that Sokoudjou will return to Japan in May. He had a very rapid rise to fame in Pride, knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Richardo Arona in 2007. When the UFC bought Pride, he went to the UFC and has not been able to replicate his success there. (Ted: In his last four fights, Soko has losses to Lyoto Machida and Luis Arthur Cane in UFC, and Babalu Sobral in Afflction.)
Now he is released from the UFC and DREAM has picked him up, on his return he will face DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi, who is on an 11 fight winning streak.

The fight will be fought at light-heavyweight.

Light-Heavy: Gegard Mousasi 24-2-1 vs. 5-4-0 Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Bouncing back from his UFC release, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou takes on the always-game - and current Strikeforce LHW champ - Renato "Babalu" Sobral.

Phil is a Relson Gracie BJJ black belt and runs his school, Balance Studios, in Philadelphia.

Don't forget to visit the myspace of BJJ, jiujitsushare.com

Sokoudjou

Babalu

Affliction Entertainment's second card, "Day of Reckoning," is nearly complete with the likely addition of a familiar face.

UFC and PRIDE veteran light-heavyweight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-3) is currently in negotiations to face previously announced participant Renato "Babalu" Sobral (31-7) at the Jan. 24 event in Anaheim, Calif.

Afflicition announced the matchup very inconspicuously with an updated fight card on the official website for the event, but Affliction vice president Tom Atencio told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the deal is not yet finalized.

"We're working on it right now," Atencio said. It hasn't been finalized, but we're definitely working on it."

thanks for mmaweekly.com:
Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth recently to capture the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship. One unfortunate side effect for the new titleholder, however, is that he has been removed from a fight against No. 3 ranked middleweight Matt Lindland.

Affliction had planned to pair Babalu and Lindland against each other at the promotion's Jan. 24 event at The Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. It now appears that Babalu's recent effort at 205 pounds for Strikeforce may have necessitated the bout with Lindland to be at a catch weight in the 190 to 195-pound range.

Affliction vice president Tom Atencio told MMAWeekly.com on Monday that he made an "executive decision" not to do the catch weight fight. He instead decided to pit Lindland against Vitor Belfort in a true middleweight contest at 185 pounds.

Belfort has been on a three-fight winning streak, his most recent effort being at Affliction's debut outing in July. There he defeated fellow UFC veteran Terry Martin, knocking him out in the second round. It was an impressive debut for the Brazilian at 185 pounds.

His most recent effort also being on Affliction's debut card, Lindland saw his first action in more than a year, defeating Fabio Nascimento in a three-round unanimous decision. He recently made a run at politics in his home state of Oregon, but lost his bid. Lindland has now returned to training for his January fight with a new focus.

Belfort and Lindland were scheduled to fight each other on the "Day of Reckoning" card when it was originally planned for October in Las Vegas. The move to January saw their bout split apart before the recent decision to put it back together.

bloodyelbow.com had these up last week, I just didn't get a round to putting'em up until now.

Babalu Sobral with a wicked elbow on Bobby Southworth

Scott Smith finishes Terry Martin.

It's great to be Jake Shields.

From M-1 Mixfight's Web site:
UFC and Affliction veteran Renato "Babalu" Sobral (30-7) is scheduled to take on Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) come November,21st. They could've fought each other back in September but the bout fell through due to injuries.

Here's what Babalu said concerning the upcoming clash: "Bobby called me out and I gladly accepted the challenge. On Friday, the world will learn what Bobby already knows - that this was the biggest mistake of his career. I'm going to be looking for the knockout. If I have to break my hand on his face, I will.""

Some big names here like UFC competitor Renato "Babalu" Sobral, former Ultimate Fighter Bobby Southworth, Josh Thomson, Yves Edwards, Joe Riggs and Mrs. Captain America, Kim Couture. Strikeforce continues to impress with solid shows. I predict big things are ahead for this promotion.

STRIKEFORCE DESTRUCTION

HP Pavilion at San Jose
Friday, November 21, 2008 - 7:30PM (Prelims at 6:00PM)

Main Event - 155 lbs. - 5X5 - Yves Edwards (34-14-1) vs. Josh "The Punk" Thomson (16-2) - Strikeforce Lightweight Championship Fight

205 lbs. - 5X5 - Renato "Babalu" Sobral (30-7) vs. Bobby Southworth (9-5) - Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship Fight

170 lbs. - 3X5 - Luke Stewart (6-1) vs. Joe "Diesel" Riggs (28-10)

175 lbs. - 5X3 - Lemont Davis (2-1) vs. Brian Schwartz (0-1)

135 lbs. - 3X5 - Brad Royster (1-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-2)

185 lbs. - 3X5 - Tony Johnson (3-0) vs. Eric Lawson (7-2)

145 lbs. - 3X3 - Alvin Cacdac (4-4) vs. Jose Palacios (3-1)

155 lbs. - 3X3 - Bobby Stack (5-1) vs. Cyrillo Padilha (2-2)

155 lbs. - 3X3 - Zakary Bucia (0-1) vs. Jaime Rodriguez (0-0)

185 lbs. - 3X5 - Kurt Osiander (3-0) vs. Raul Castillo (5-0)

185 lbs. - 3X5 - Nik Theotikos (5-1) vs. Luke Rockhold (2-1)

130 lbs. - 3X3 - Kim "Sugar Free" Couture (0-1) vs. Lina Kvokov (0-1)