Renato “Babalu” Sobral Released
Today the UFC announced that it had officially severed ties with the talented but controversial Renato “Babalu” Sobral for his actions at UFC 74.
Sobral was victorious this past weekend defeating David Heath by submission after a bloodbath of a second round but held onto the choke for several additional seconds after Heath tapped. The incident sparked boos from the crowd and harsh words from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, MMA journalists, and UFC President Dana White. Since then the NSAC has withheld half of his purse in the winning effort ($25,000) and is still considering additional penalties on top of a potential fine.
Today the ultimate blow was delivered to the fighter just 2 fights removed from facing Chuck Liddell for the light heavyweight title. Dana White announced during a pre-UFC 75 media call that the UFC had been released from his UFC contract. Though his return to the UFC in the future is not out of the question fans will not be seeing Sobral in the Octagon for some time.
The exact details of the release are not known as numerous reports had stated that Sobral’s UFC contract was completed with his fight against David Heath and that the organization was not going to resign him. Whether the UFC decided not to resign him or actually terminated his contract is up in the air but the fact remains that he was effectively fired for his actions and will be looking for work elsewhere.
Tags: David Heath, Renato Sobral
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That is interesting. He did look menacing after the fight. I wonder if his contract was up anyways. It will definatly add some intimidation factor for his next fight wherevet it will be. He won't remain unsigned for long.
I think thats a good thing. He is a b****. Good fighter..but would never capture the light heavyweight title. Not enough heart…..he has got the skill…but no heart. I think that is why Chuck is not holding the title right now. Got to caught up in the image thing….forgot about where he came from…..my opinion only. I hope to see Babalu in the future….but I dont think its gonna happen.
You my friend are a b****! I’m sure Babalu would love to see you talkin s***!
I don't question his heart, I just thinkhe is imature. As experienced as he is, I thought it was quite shocking the display of disrespect he showed. I think a more mature Babalu could defeat Chuck with the right game plan and not charging into Chucks hands. But, he blew the thought of that with is poor sportsmanship and "uncharacteristic" behavior.
It's unfortunate he was released. After seeing what he did; it was messed up how he didn't release the Ananonda Choke, so his departure seems justified.
There were so many potential match-ups we could have seen with Babalu. We could have seen him fight the loser of Griffin vs. Rua; we could have seen him fight the loser of Machida vs. Nakamura; the loser of Evans vs. Ortiz; the loser of Jardine vs. Liddell. The reason I see the loser of these four fights is because he wasn't going to fight any of the winners because most likely the winners of these fights would get a tougher opponent than Babalu.
babalu was always just below the best with so much quality coming in i find it hard to believe he would be beating the likes of rampage,rua or griffin
For your imformation, babalu has already beat shogun! Check your facts! He’s fought the best in the world! On any given night anyone can beat anyone! Griffin over Rua, Jardine over Liddell, Serra over St. Pierre, Babalu can beat any 205 pounder on any givin night.
I think Babalu was making too much money compared to his position in the division. He's probably 7th or 8th at 205 in the UFC. This was an easy excuse to let him out of his contract and protect themselves from any negative feedback. If he puts 2 or 3 wins together in Heroes or AOW etc they'll probably have him back just at cheaper price.
I think the UFC must be mad to release Babalu, Although his actions against Heath were totally disgraceful, He is the "Bad Boy" of UFC and that is always a crowd puller. I think Babalu is going through a bad time in his life were he is having trouble inside and outside of the ring.
Yeah, there has to be something else behind what happened. He usually has been a good sport, and great competitor. It's too bad he snapped.
I think it was a mixture of stress from losing his last 2 bouts and getting arrested. I think whatever heath did or said just put him over the edge and when he had the chance he held onto the choke until he was out.
Had it been a hold on an arm or leg I think he would have released it but because it was a blood choke and no real harm could be done he opted to not release it.
On a good note the MMA Weekly article says that Heath is fine physically and is more upset about the outcome of the fight than anything Babalu did.
I wonder if the UFC will let go of David Heath, as well?
I think these two will fight again in a smaller or medium size MMA organization. The promoters could build a storyline to sell tickets and I could see it being a real grudge rematch between the two.
Other than getting his ass kicked, he didn't do anything wrong. Almost all fighters talk trash. I think the UFC will give him another fight just as compensation for Babalu being a dink.
I really don't think Heath has any dillusions of beating Babalu, or any desire to fight him again.
I don't think they will "let him go". I am not sure of the status on his contract but they won't terminate him and should let him finish it out. If it's expired it is unlikely they resign him but I think we will see him again in the UFC.
I hate to see this happen but I do think that it was absolutely the right thing to do. As a UFC fan, I hate to hear the "human cockfighting" comments that people use to describe it. That comment is made by people who know very little if not nothing about the sport other than what they read when something exactly like this happens.
A UFC fan will see a fighter that snapped, was out of line and was very disrespectful to his opponent. Someone else will use this as an example to play yet another round of "we should ban this because it is disgusting".
Maybe I'm looking at this too simplistically but above all, Dana White is a businessman and will do whatever he can to protect that business.
You are 1000% correct Carla. The problem with the MMA neighsayers is the usually don't even see the whole situation that they tend to use as evidance in their debate against our sport. For instance, this Sobrol situation. Give it a few days and we will be hearing from all these boxing nitwits that just got around to reading about this. They won't bother watching the fight to see that Babalu didn't hold the choke that long. But they will say he tryed to kill Heath, and then they will throw in some comparisons between Dana White and Michal Vick, the whole time just being hypocritcal, self righteous, bastards.
There was very little backlash in the mainstream media for the extended choke but the move by the UFC should calm any notions outsiders had that moves like that are "allowed" in the UFC.
On the other hand a major league baseball player isn't fired for simply charging the mound, throwing a punch, or pitching a ball at someone so if you think of it that way the penalty was excessive.
I find it interesting that the UFC fired him so quickly, I truthfully expected the NSAC to handle it and have the UFC let him finish out the remainder of his contract and simply not re-sign him. They're making a statement by actually letting him go.
What I don't get is if the UFC wants to get away from the human cockfighting label, then why did they sign Sean Gannon after he beat Kimbo Slice?
I think we will see Babaly again in the UFC, but when? I guess we will have to wait and see. I think he will probably go to EliteXC.
I think EliteXC is the most likely as well. I just don't see him going to the IFL or Bodog without a cage but he could surprise me.
Kris, I agree with you that EliteXC does make the most sense. I like Babalu and I just hope he is able to rebound from all negativity that he has been going through with the arrest, the fine and now his release from the UFC. I hope he is able to salvage his MMA career.
I could see him in heroes against Overeem, Judo Terry, or Vitor. Those would all be marquee match ups…
[...] subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting UFCDaily.com!Renato “Babalu” Sobral was axed from the UFC earlier this week for his controversial victory over David Heath at UFC 74 last weekend. Yesterday [...]
I cant see him being out of the UFC for too long. He is one of the best 205 pounders in the world. And as for the comment about his heart, that person should watch him wn the IFC Light-Heavyweight title! He may even go to Cage Rage as some top fighters are passing through there, i.e Vitor Belfort!
Obviously the clown that commented about Babalu’s heart knows nothing about Babalu or the sport! Babalu is one of the most respectful fighters in mma! Maybe you didn’t see the fight with Fedor, he is one of the only guys to go the distance with him! Or when he beat Shogun, You my friend probably have never been involved in a combative sport in your life, so you shouldn’t talk Sh*t when you know nothing!
Babalu is a good guy, it’s B.S. that they suspended him, what about BJ & Shamrock? Not even a slap on the hand!
[...] Renato Sobral Issues Statement [...]
[...] the promotion announced during last nights broadcast of an event from the Playboy Mansion. Sobral was released from the UFC in August after defeating David Heath at UFC 74. In the win he held onto a [...]
Thats Messed Up! So what if he held on for a few extra seconds! He was just making a point. They are punks for kicking him out. All being a bunch of babies! Ive never been a Babalu fan but hes got great talent and hes a cool guy to boot! The kind needed in the UFC. They need to stop worrying about what people think and let him come back. Taking half his prize money was enough punishment!
That wouldnt have happened in Pride or any other organization.
pride is the ufc retard. and the guy is a good fighter as far as “people who fight” go. I mean he could tap me out im sure and beat the hell outta anyone of yous. but he is a second class fighter as of late. for sure doesn’t belong in the ufc. he is spinning his wheels there. let him get built up in one of the other hot spots his confidence will regain. we’ll sign him again, an hopefullly he can be where he was 2 years ago. other than that… piss off ‘hammer’ id tap you quicker than you’d know what to do with just admit that the guy has slipped abit and needs a little shove in the right direction.
Very good call on letting him go…Karma will take care of the cheap shot Renato. The UFC is a sport that has come a long way, its people like him that make it harder for people to accept the art vs the violence. These cheap shots will eventually kill somebody and that will destroy the sport. UFC has proven its serious by getting ride of Renato. Good job UFC keep the real winners coming and the sport and an Art. I’ll be watching and supporting a lot more. For those who believe its not a good call, well thats why they get payed to judge and you pay to watch.
he may have beaten shogun but he couldnt last a round with chuck either time! u think he would beat rampage? its all opinion hes gone!