Babalu cut from UFC contract.

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As UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) reported in an earlier UFC 75 conference call recap, Renato “Babalu” Sobral has been dropped from the UFC following his actions at this past Saturday’s UFC 74 event.

UFC President Dana White confirmed that the fighter has been cut from his contract after initially refusing to break a chokehold on opponent David Heath and then admitting it during a post-fight interview. Sobral told the sold-out crowd in the Mandalay Bay Events Center that he wanted to “teach (Heath) a lesson” for disrespecting him during the previous day’s weigh-ins.

After dominating much of the fight — and opening a gash along the fighter’s forehead — Sobral secured a fight-ending anaconda choke in the second round. However, after Heath tapped, Sobral refused to break the hold, even as referee Steve Mazzagatti tugged on his arm.

At least three to four seconds ticked by before Sobral broke the hold. By then, Heath had gone unconscious.

Half of Sobral’s $50,000 payday has been withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission pending a review by executive director Keith Kizer. He recently stated that a suspension could also be in order.

While White said that Sobral is now gone from the organization, he didn’t rule out the possibility of the light heavyweight returning some day.

“I never say never,” White said.

Before this past weekend’s undercard fight, Sobral lost to Jason Lambert at UFC 68 in one of the night’s biggest upsets. Prior to that, he lost to then-UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell in UFC 62’s main event one year ago. That loss ended Sobral’s 10-fight winning streak, which began after a previous loss to Liddell at UFC 40.

goo

I think that's mad. I guess it's good for them to push fair play and everything, but its a bit of a double standard considering BJ held that rear naked on Jens for ages but has a guaranteed title shot on ice.

I'm not saying its relevant in this case, but does anyone agree there's a bias towards fighters who speak english as their first language? Obviously they're easier to market.

Frank Bullitt

Thats ****in stupid, if this is the case then BJ and Royce shoudl have been cut as well, Im really pissed at this, Im a big fan of Babalu and I think he was on his way to big things, yes it was stupid what he did but I think that this is way over the top for a punishment.

Smellyirishman

It was a very malicious hold, and the whole...scene...made it look even worse. Babalu was very aware of what he was doing and his reaction afterwards was telling, such malevolent actions should not be left unpunished in any sport, especially in one under such scrutiny. I'd say the pressure was on to "make an example" as well, but he definitely deserved some sort of suspension.

Of course, the fight should have been stopped at least momentarily after the cut, but that's another agruement.

I haven't actually seen the Penn hold so will reserve comment on that.

dunkamania

There is a world of difference between the Penn and Babalu incidents.

There have been occasions where fighters have phantom tapped,therefore holding the submission until the ref steps in isnt uncommon or illegal.Penn didnt disobey the ref's instructions.He was a bit of a jerk but didnt violate the rules.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=LearnUFC.Rules

Vince135792003

dunkamania wrote:

There is a world of difference between the Penn and Babalu incidents.

There have been occasions where fighters have phantom tapped,therefore holding the submission until the ref steps in isnt uncommon or illegal.Penn didnt disobey the ref's instructions.He was a bit of a jerk but didnt violate the rules.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=LearnUFC.Rules

More basically, Babalu pretty much admitted what he did in his post fight interview. When you do that, your asking to be fired.

dunkamania

good point.

if he had said he was woozy from a hit he had taken and was as a result,slow to comprehend the ref's instructions,it would be harder to penalise him

FiannaGym.com

Yes Babalu made things bad for himself in the post fight interview....

However, I'm sick to death of hearing "non-fighters" complain about his actions.

What he did was fine, and from all the press I have read it seems like some people have beef with a "non-english speaker" or "the brazilian" choking out an American.

The whole thing is pathetic and I just hope Dana is doing this for PR and will bring Bablau back soon.

Peace

Dave!

That he pretty much gloated about what he did in the post-fight interview, to me suggests that Dana made the right decision.

cowzerp

If we want the world to think mma is a scumbag sport well then keep babalu in ufc, if we want to be respected athletes hit him hard and let the world know there is no place for thuggery in mma-im against the disrespectful sh-t some fighters get up to.

hiromatsu22

However, I'm sick to death of hearing "non-fighters" complain about his actions.

I don't see what being a fighter/non-fighter has to do with it. It takes about 10 minutes of watching any MMA event to know that the fight is over when one guy taps. Being a "fighter" doesn't make you immune from being a tosser, it just makes you a dangerous one. Babalu's actions make him a tosser - good enough for him I say

PeakOutput

However, I'm sick to death of hearing "non-fighters" complain about his actions.

why exactly?

you might as well stop reading this post now then as i am just a fan not a fighter.


Personally, part of the reason i really like the ufc is despite the "brutality" the sportsmanship that is put on display, after (from what i can see) almost every fight no matter how big the "grudge" before the fight, is second to none. It is what seperates the fighters from being out and out thugs, mutual respect for each others art and being able to take / give a beating and be mature about it.

incidences like this undermine that and while there is a pair of them in it and I would not have thought that any action other than a slap on the wrist was in order after seeing the fight, telling the press and everyone else you wanted to "teach him a lesson" so you choked him unconsious knowing the ref ahd stopped it simply makes him an idiot and he deserves what he gets.

Tim_Murphy

Personally, part of the reason i really like the ufc is despite the "brutality" the sportsmanship that is put on display, after (from what i can see) almost every fight no matter how big the "grudge" before the fight, is second to none. It is what seperates the fighters from being out and out thugs, mutual respect for each others art and being able to take / give a beating and be mature about it.

incidences like this undermine that and while there is a pair of them in it and I would not have thought that any action other than a slap on the wrist was in order after seeing the fight, telling the press and everyone else you wanted to "teach him a lesson" so you choked him unconsious knowing the ref ahd stopped it simply makes him an idiot and he deserves what he gets.

Agreed.

goo

dunkamania wrote:

There is a world of difference between the Penn and Babalu incidents.

There have been occasions where fighters have phantom tapped,therefore holding the submission until the ref steps in isnt uncommon or illegal.Penn didnt disobey the ref's instructions.He was a bit of a jerk but didnt violate the rules.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=LearnUFC.Rules

Me arse

Brigham on the UG wrote:

I know there is up-teen dozen threads about this but, here are the 2 chokes side by side.





I do believe the Babalu one is in slower motion also.

I really dont see the difference. They both talked about it post fight, BJ said he held it to teach Jens a lesson, as did Babalu about Heath. So, what the **** is up with the double standard here?

PeakOutput

goo wrote:

Me arse

defo seems like double standard alright dosnt mean babalu should have gotten away with it just means bj should be gone too

dunkamania

i went back to watch the penn pulver fight before goo posted it and Penn did hold longer then i thought.

But,if you watch the 20 seconds immediately after goo's clip,penn and pulver
hug and make up, whereas heath was unconscious.

I acknowledge that Penn was a jerk but I still think babalu's action was in a different league.

goo

I think its the same offence but in different contexts and Babalu's was a little bit worse on top of that. The fact that Jens wasn't bloodied, that everyone had been made well aware of all the "bad blood" between the two, and the fact that Jens was able to get up after and give an interview all puts BJ's choke as harder to judge badly. Especially considering how lovely Jens was in that interview. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to be a complete legend, not that Babalu isn't, but you know what I mean. Everyone who saw him win the belt off Hughes...

I'd like to have seen Jens' reaction if he ever watched the fight back, though. I'm sure the gap between tapping and being let go always feels like a lifetime so he might not have known BJ held it so long. As much as I love BJ, what he did isn't on. Never mind now, even straight after the fight. I was dying for him to win, and was so happy he did, and he'd just won me a tenner but it should be a sport, not a fight, and there should be no room for this sort of stuff. Then again, I'm not a total legend and I've never had my meteoric rise to a UFC championship halted by anybody.

And I guess, considering I'm a "non-fighter", my opinion doesn't count anyway.

Bad Dog MMA

I think the presence of blood and the fact he had him fairly well beaten before he put the hold on made the situation seem worse.
As for the BJ/Pulver thing, They were individual fights and as such were dealt with individually. No to incidents are identical enough to deem the same punishment be given.

goo

I know, yeah, but its not a matter of punishing one more severely than the other. Babalu got hoisted from his UFC contract whereas BJ's been promised a swing at the 155 title after having fought at that weight for the first time in four years according to wiki. If anything was said to BJ it was away from the cameras and that's the way it should be with Babalu. I'm tempted to believe that Dana meant it when he said he was looking to get rid of Sobral anyway, because if it was any other fighter they would've been talked to, maybe. The NSAC aren't suspending him about it or anything, and they might even give some or all of the $25,000 back.

Valmont

Babalu is the ultimate bad guy now, they should bring him back and market him as such. "Bad Babalu" Sobral, just imagine it. They could hype him up as evil and that sort of thing, would be quite the spectacle. I think it was wrong what he did but at least it wasn't an armbar or heel hook.

DeVore

The first of those animiated pics looks totally faked. The guy is moving right up to when he is released and *then* goes unconscious. He even looks to be smiling almost. If it was a poker game, I'd call him

DeV.

Nothingcompares

DeVore wrote:

The first of those animiated pics looks totally faked. The guy is moving right up to when he is released and *then* goes unconscious. He even looks to be smiling almost. If it was a poker game, I'd call him

DeV.

shows how useful a couple of years training in kung fu and kenpo can be

FiannaGym.com

My problem with non-fighters getting "sand in their ******s" is because Babalu made a misjudgement. End of story.

It's like all the "TUF n00bs" suddenly show up proclaiming to have valuable insight.

David Heath knew the score, as did Babalu. If Bablau was the American, if he spoke better english or was more of a poster boy (which he can never be because of the previous issues) this would never have happened.

Babalu has been through the wars lately and for David Heath to have behaved like he did makes me see why Babalu misjudged the way he did. People frequently don't obey the refs orders. Because plenty of people are new to the sport, the blood, the fact that Heath went unconsious seems to affect them greatly. In truth they are no big deals.

People do it all the time in sports. It's life.

Boo Hoo, "the sport" Babalu did more for the sport than any of his detractors and it is his ditractors who are damaging the sport, not him. God be with the days of Pride.

Peace

wasteroflife

he has had rough time recently 2 losses in a row arrestested for tresspassing and asaulat first off it wasnt shown on bravo i heard bout it on net down loaded it joe rogan exgaareterd the blood thing a bit there has been worse joe stevenson and yves edwards was bloodiest ive seen plus the choke wasnt all that bad not as if noone ever passed out before

hypnosisdublin

FiannaGym.com wrote:

If Bablau was the American, if he spoke better english or was more of a poster boy (which he can never be because of the previous issues) this would never have happened.

Exactly.

If Babalu had have beaten Chuck Liddell, he'd have been champ and would never have been dropped by the UFC. He's also the only person to beat Shogun Rua (not counting Mark Coleman's freak "victory"). Shogun is being groomed as the poster boy of MMA by Dana White and the last thing he wanted was Babalu once again doing to him what Rampage did to Liddell.

PeakOutput

his statement sorts the matter out for me anyway, you have to take him at his word so the matter should resolve itself for him now.


I do think though fianna that its not really the blood or the choking out that people have a problem with as such but the assumed intention of the guy as he was doing it. accidents happen thats fine but what he said after the fight implied strongly that it was not an accident and that is what got him in trouble but like i said hopefully his statement is genuine and that will be the end of the matter.

DeVore

Nothingcompares wrote:

shows how useful a couple of years training in kung fu and kenpo can be

Oh, I've no doubt that MMA is real, I'm not questioning it.

I do question what my training background has to do with my comment, thats simply dumb.

I was pointing out something and I backed it up with at least some reasoning but please, feel free to point out where I have made an error of judgement?

DeV.

DeVore

No? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Guess not... Perhaps its a new style of MMA......... Hitnrun??

DeV.

Nothingcompares

Oh you were expecting a reply?

It's kinda like me watching a poker match and seeing a guy get a royal flush or something and saying he has got to be cheating or the cards set up because that seems fake. For someone that doesn't have any experience of poker you might think a game like that was a set up.

My point was, and it wasn't a strong one, you were looking at something you know nothing about and offering an observation which you're fully entitled to do. Subjective opinion is what message boards run on. I just wanted to highlight your opinion wasn't an informed one.

Barry.Commins

DeVore wrote:

The first of those animiated pics looks totally faked. The guy is moving right up to when he is released and *then* goes unconscious. He even looks to be smiling almost. If it was a poker game, I'd call him

DeV.

I'm not sure if you've seen that fight, but I think you might be misreading the situation from that short clip.

Jens Pulver wasn't choked unconsious in that fight. Penn released the choke early enough that Pulver didn't go out. He looks like he's smiling afterwards because he is. Pulver gave Penn a big grin afterwards and they hugged.

The reason the two clips were compared was that both chokes were held after the referee tried to stop the fights. Babalu choked Heath unconsious, Penn didn't choke Pulver out.

goo

Barry.Commins wrote:

Babalu choked Heath unconsious, Penn didn't choke Pulver out.

Would that not be more about Heath being in a worse way before he tapped, or the choke was applied, than it was about BJ being less of a villain. People have been saying this on a bunch of forums as if Babalu was trying to kill someone but BJ was just having a laugh.

Barry.Commins

Absolutely. I wasn't trying to say that the situation with Penn was any different from Babalu's one. I was just trying to describe those clips in context to Devore, who I'm guessing hasn't seen the Penn - Pulver fight other than that short clip.

I'd consider them both the same. The fact that Pulver didn't go out is incidental.

Vince135792003

Barry.Commins wrote:

I'd consider them both the same. .

Except Babalu decided to tell everyone in his post fight interview all about it.

goo

Barry.Commins wrote:

Absolutely. I wasn't trying to say that the situation with Penn was any different from Babalu's one. I was just trying to describe those clips in context to Devore, who I'm guessing hasn't seen the Penn - Pulver fight other than that short clip.

Sorry about that, my fault.

filament

don't see how people can call these the same. babalu admitted he'd intentionally did wrong.
In the sherdog interview with BJ in the airport the day after he was asked about it and said that he may have held it too long but i was accidental and he apologised for it

there's the difference

goo

Lying?

rossedge

stupid getting cut from the UFC, theres been alot worse than that int he UFC!