ThePainFactory

Renato “Babalu” Sobral has been released from his UFC contract after his behavior in the recent fight with David Heath as confirmed by UFC president Dana White during a media conference call earlier today.

Much speculation has gone into the possible punishment for Sobral after his actions in which he held onto a fight ending choke even after referee Steve Mazzagatti tried to get the fighter to release the hold.

Babalu may have sunk himself in an even deeper hole by making his post fight comments in which he stated he wanted to “teach him a lesson,” referring to Heath and their heated verbal exchange at the weigh-ins the day prior.

MMAWeekly spoke to Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer on Monday and he confirmed that at that time they had held up Babalu’s fight purse of $25,000 pending the investigation into the incident.

Kizer stated that he planned on re-watching the bout between Sobral and Heath and then would make a decision whether or not to file a complaint against Babalu at that point.

MMAWeekly spoke to Kizer about Babalu's situation on Thursday afternoon and the Executive Director advised that Babalu and his management would be speaking in front of the commission during a meeting on Friday.

During that meeting, Babalu will have the chance to tell his side of the story, so to speak, to the commission and then at that point they will make a final decision as to whether or not to hold a disciplinary meeting to discuss punishment for Sobral.

Kizer also advised the possibility of the commission simply reprimanding Babalu for his actions and releasing his fight purse.

The final decision on the next step of action will come on Friday when Babalu appears in front of the commission.

This news comes on the heels of White’s original statement at the UFC 74 post fight press conference in which he stated, “I am not happy about it. If you have an arm or leg of somebody in a submission where somebody seriously injures somebody, you'll never be back in UFC again.”

Word from Heath’s camp on Monday was that the fighter was okay physically and was more upset about his own performance than anything surrounding the controversy at the end of the fight.

Babalu’s release sets a precedent in the UFC that actions that could potentially harm another fighter, especially when they are as blatant as what Sobral did and then said, can cause a fighter to be let go from a UFC contract.

White did follow up by not ruling out the possibility of Babalu returning to the UFC in the future, but did say the Brazilian fighter made a huge mistake with his actions last Saturday night.

No word has come out of Babalu’s camp since the dismissal from the UFC.

Babalu knows better. One of the first unwritten rules of submission is you let the guy go when he taps.

This was obviously a blatant attempt to prove a point... that was mute... he had already beat the guy... he tapped out!

Golden Rule should apply here.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral issued the following statement after his initial hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Friday regarding his actions in a bout with David Heath at UFC 74. In the days after the fight, Sobral was released from his UFC contract.


To My Family, Friends, Fans and Sponsors:

Since UFC 74, I have wanted to speak publicly about my fight with David Heath. I waited to do so, however, out of respect for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Zuffa, Inc. and Dana White. After all, it is their efforts that have legitimized Mixed Martial Arts in the sports world and I realize that my conduct has unintentionally hindered those efforts. For that, among other things, I am deeply sorry.

I have been fighting professionally since 1998. Prior to my fight with David Heath, my professional record was twenty-seven wins with seven losses. Fourteen of my victories came by way of submission. Not once was I ever accused of holding a choke or submission too long. If anything, there has always been and continues to be a great camaraderie between my opponents and I after the fight.

Being a professional mixed martial artist is more than a career to me. It is my livelihood and my way of life. Consequently, I am deeply sorry for any embarrassment that has been brought upon the sport, other mixed martial artists (especially David Heath), my Academy and most importantly, my family.

As if the embarrassment were not enough, my actions during the fight with David and my comments afterwards, have already resulted in severe financial loss to my family because as you know, in addition to my win bonus still being withheld, yesterday I was released from my contract with the UFC.

There has been much talk about things that may have been said to me by David Heath at the weigh-in. What David said to me at the weigh-in didn’t matter then and doesn’t matter now. What matters are my comments after the fight. And, regardless of what you may read by so called MMA experts on the internet, I never said that I purposefully choked-out David Heath. In short, my post-fight comments, while inappropriate, were not intended to be comments about the choke. Rather, they were intended to be comments about the aggressive performance that I put in.

I did not intentionally choke out David Heath. The first that I realized that David had tapped was when people told me that he did after the fight. When I finally had the chance to view the tape, I see that he did. When David tapped, I did not feel it. I wish I did for I would have let it go. Instead, I continued to hold it. Not because I was upset or wanted him to lose consciousness. I held it because I didn’t know he tapped and I was intent on winning the fight. Holding on to a choke a little long is not an uncommon mistake made in training, and never in my career have I witnessed or heard of an injury resulting from it.

When I had the choke, I was not looking the referee in the eyes as one commentator erroneously observed. Nor did I hear the referee issue any verbal command to release the hold. Instead, my head was down to strengthen the move and my eyes closed with focus. As a result, I did not feel the referee tap me the first time either. It was not until he put his hands on my right shoulder that I felt him trying to separate us. When I felt this, I immediately released the choke.

After [Friday's] hearing [with the Nevada State Athletic Commission] I traveled to the UFC’s office to meet with Dana White. Contrary to recent reports in the media, this meeting was not to discuss my being released from the UFC. In fact, this meeting was arranged prior to my even being released from the contract. The purpose of the meeting was for me to personally apologize to Dana while at the same time thank him for all the opportunities that the UFC has given to my family and I. Unfortunately, I was unable to meet with Dana due to a calendaring error Nevertheless, thanks Dana and my apologies.

I am a professional fighter. This is what I do for a living. I do not hold a day job and then train at night to fight. I know nothing else but how to fight. This is how I support my family.

On behalf of my family and friends, I appreciate the support that you have given me over the years, not to mention in the recent week, and I am hopeful that I will have the opportunity to fight again in the State of Nevada.

Thank you.

RENATO 'BABALU' SOBRAL


It appears Babalu thinks Denial is a river in Egypt. Look like he held on too long to me.

What about it guys?

I still have not seen the fight. If anyone has a link to the finish please post it.

Here you go. Zuffa will probably have it pulled before long.

Thanks for the vid... watched it a couple of times. Looks like 4 to 5 seconds from tap to release... too long. I am with the crowd on this one... looks intentional... yeah this is a fight... but we all agree to adhere to the fight rules.

suspension? sure. firing? unnecessary. i think he should of been disciplined, but he was made an example of

The guy took a nap. Whats the big deal. I can could understand it if he kept punching him. Its just a choke!!! He shouldn't have did it but killing his contract is going over board here.

Noticed the video was taken down. Got this from Under Dog in the gif section