Mousasi Expected to Fight “Babalu”, Not Belfort, at Affliction: Trilogy
Originally set to fight Vitor Belfort at Affliction: Trilogy, Gegard Mousasi will instead meet Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral at the August 1st event, according to M-1 Global, which cited sources close to Mousasi.
Mousasi, the former DREAM middleweight title-holder who vacated the belt to move up to light heavyweight, had been matched up with 185-pounder Belfort last week, only to have Belfort decline the matchup unless it was contested at middleweight. Mousasi refused, challenging Belfort to a catchweight bout, but Affliction has instead booked Sobral for his US debut.
A winner of twelve-straight fights, Mousasi (25-2-1) captured the DREAM title by defeating Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the finals of the 185-pound grand prix in September. Mousasi would never defend the title, however, relinquising the belt to move up to light heavyweight and fight in DREAM’s super hulk open-weight tournament, which kicked off on May 26 in Japan with Mousasi scoring a first-round submission of the much larger Mark Hunt to secure a spot in the semis later this year.
Sobral (31-7), who was cut from the UFC in 2007 after refusing to release a submission in a victory over David Heath, has won five-straight bouts, including a first-round TKO of Bobby Southworth in November to win the Strikeforce title and a second-round TKO of Rameu Thierry Sokoudjou in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning.
Affliction: Trilogy takes place on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett.
MMAFrenzy.com delivers the latest Affliction news and Affliction rumors.
[Pictured: Gegard Mousasi]
Tags: Gegard Mousasi, Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort
Loading ...
aka Belfort is serious about staying at middleweight
At first I was thinking Belfort, who was a contender at heaveyweight in the begining of his career, was a poonani for refusing a catchweight fight. But the dude is at a point in his career where it’s either he gets serious at a given weight or shouldn’t bother at all. It’s not all about making money with the fly by night promotions. With him focusing on MW, I truly believe that after another win or two the UFC will bring him back. Then we’ll maybe see what could be the most exciting fight ever: Silva vs. Vitor for the UFC MW belt. Sick!
Man I would really like to see some punishment on Babalu. He is just another dou*he.
This is gonna be a good fight …………mousasi wins in my eyes .
babalu has been on a tear lately… so its going to be a nice fight. this is the kind of fight that’s worthy of being a co main event. unlike the last affliction shows co-main, where we know josh has a definite advantage. this one’s a toss up. I’ll go with babalu, anaconda choke. haha