Following his loss at Bellator 96, Renato “Babalu” Sobral retired from MMA. Photo by Esther Lin.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral made a brilliant career in MMA. Thirty-seven years old, 16 of those years being a career in MMA, the fighter participated in 48 fights, had 37 wins and earned 19 of them thanks to his Jiu-Jitsu. The black-belt has fought in the biggest MMA events and was successful in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. He is a former Strikeforce champion, and fought for the title in the UFC.

Monday night, June 19, Babalu said goodbye to the cage after being knocked out by Jacob Noe at Bellator 96. The Brazilian started the fight well, but failed to take the opponent to the ground. In the third round, however, Noe landed some good shots, which left Babalu bewildered. The referee did not wait and declared the victory of the American. This led to protest by Babalu, who pushed the referee, but later accepted the result with resilience and declared retirement, placing his gloves on the ground.

Watch the fight here:

Babalu was signed by Bellator earlier this year, and had a fight before this, but on the occasion also suffered a knockout.

The victory of Jacob Noe places the American at the final of the summer tournament. He will face King Mo Lawal, professional wrestler and former Strikeforce champion, who won the other semifinal of the night against Seth Petruzelli by knockout.

Check out the full results of Bellator 96 by clicking here.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney (left) stands with lightweight champion Mike Chandler (right). Photo by Erik Fontanez

IRVINE, Calif. — Mike Chander and Pat Curran successfully defended their Bellator championship belts at the company’s debut on Spike TV in Irvine, Calif., at UC Irvine’s Bren Center on Thursday night.

Chandler finished Rick Hawn in the second round by locking on a rear-naked choke at 3:07 of the frame, while Curran went the distance with Patricio “Pit Bull” Freire for a split decision win.

“It was a big night for us,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said during the post-fight press conference. “Man, did [the fighters] deliver … All praise to you guys.”

Chandler looked dominant in his performance, establishing a takedown early in the fight and working actively in the guard to score points with strikes. The champ controlled Hawn for a majority of the opening frame and appeared to win the round.

The Alliance MMA lightweight continued his push in the second round, getting a slam of Hawn in the first 60 seconds on the way to sinking in the submission to finish the contest.

“It hasn’t really all sank in yet,” Chandler told GRACIEMAG.com of his win on Bellator’s first Spike TV broadcast. “I just want to keep getting better, [train] and see how good I can be.”

With the win, Chandler maintains his undefeated record at 11-0, while Hawn drops to 14-2.

Featherweight champion Pat Curran sits with his championship belt. Photo by Erik Fontanez

Curran, the featherweight title holder, and Pit Bull Freire opened the main card with the 145-pound title fight. Both fighters kept a conservative approach, measuring each other before deciding to engage with more offense in the latter stages of the contest.

The champion wasn’t really surprised, he said, that his opponent didn’t come out guns blazing. It’s a five-round fight and the fighters needed to pace themselves, he added.

“If he was going to come at me really hard, I was ready for it,” Curran said at the press conference. “I knew he had to pace himself because he has gotten tired in the past. I knew that was in the back of his head.”

The fighters went back and forth before the fight went to the final round, but it was Curran that landed enough strikes to bloody up Freire’s nose. The contest was scored 47-48, 48-27 and 48-47 in favor of the Curran.

With the win, Curran improves his overall record to 18-4, while Freire drops his tally to 17-2.

In addition to the title fights, Mikhail Zayats and Jacob Noe each scored first-round technical knockouts in their main card performances. Zayats topped MMA veteran Renato “Babalu” Sobral at 4:49 of the opening round, and Noe beat Seth Petruzelli at 2:51 of their first frame.

The Bellator 85 prelim results are as follows:

• Aaron Miller def. Joe Camacho via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
• Jason Lambert def. Hector Ramirez via sub (inverted armbar) at 3:59, R1
• JJ Ambrose def. Brian Warren by sub (guillotine) at 0:50, R2
• Emanuel Newton def. Atanas Djambazov via sub (rear-naked choke) at 2:21, R2
• Savant Young def. Mike Guymon by KO (punch) 0:48, R2
• Joe Williams def. Jamie Yager via TKO (strikes on the ground) 4:02, R1 
• Cleber Luciano def. Mario Navarro by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

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GB Pasadena Gand Opening

The next August 19th will be a special day for GMA member Orlando Sanchez.

The leader of Gracie Barra Pasadena invites all for the Grand Opening ceremony of his academy.

BJJ and MMA stars suh as Romulo Barral, Babalu Sobral, Kayron Gracie, Fabrício Werdum and others will be present.

Orlando will be offering food and drinks for all participants.

Professor Ze Radiola will be teaching a free seminar.

On top of all that, Sanchez will be awarded his black belt.

For more info, go to graciebarrapasadena.com.