At Affliction in Las Vegas, last Saturday, besides Rogerio Minotouro and Vitor Belfort, another Brazilian to do well was Renato "Babalu" Sobral, of Gracie Barra, who, by unanimous decision defeated American Mike Whitehead, of team Xtreme Couture.
Babalu told GRACIEMAG.com he tried to submit Whitehead, but found it hard due to his opponent's physical strength. "I'm been training for a good long while and am really well prepared, I training boxing in Los Angeles, with sparring partners from the gym. This win went according to plan. I tried to finish the fight, but the guy is really strong, I didn't manage to, I tried to impose my game, but we just traded blows standing. The holds that got closest were a guillotine and an omoplata," said the fighter.
On his next moves and challenges, Babalu said he is planning to face, in September, a current Strikeforce belt holder: Bobby Southworth, who has 9 wins and 5 losses. In Southworth's opinion, Babalu is a legend. The Brazilian has 30 wins and only 7 lossses.
