FanHouse

I'd arrest him for felonious assault or attemtped murder. BTW, Im a huge UFC fan.

Reply

This is no different then what BJ Penn did to Jens Pulver. Why is the response to the same action from two different fighters so drastically different?

Does BJ's status as a poster boy for the company mean he has carte blanch for fighting dirty, while less popular fighters have to maintain a higher standard? If anything, the poster boy in a headline fight should be held to the higher standard then the guy fighting in a dark match that doesn't even air on the show.

This type of action happens all the time, with bad blood and adrenaline. This is far from a unique situation yet Babalu is the only fighter to ever be taken to task for it. No-one mentions the 3 solid punches Clay Guida dropped after the bell in round 2 of his fight, and those undefended heymakers on a grounded opponent obviously have the possibility of doing serious damage to.

I personally think the action was distasteful, and lacking in sportsmanship. I do not though agree with the punishment. The precedent has long been set that fighters can get away with things for a couple seconds after the bell, as was shown in other fights on the same card. Mir held his sub for a couple seconds after the tap to on this very card, where's the complaints about him?

I have no problem with criticism, as long as it's balanced. If one fighter is going to be singled out for what many many fighters do, and others did on the exact same card, it comes off as a witch hunt and not a legitimate complaint.

Reply

do you ever notice it is the nerds that don't see how much it truly takes to become a true athlete? cock fighting?
this Michael Jack-of does this every single time! Anytime anything happens, he goes off calling it cock fighting!
What about the fact that no pro-MMA fighter has even taken on any brain damage? Never been killed. Despite the fact that MMA has a better track record then any other combat sport on Earth, this mornon keeps putting them down.

I bet if you were able to workout, build your body into a machine, you would knock all of this garbage off. But since you are a fat, lazy, ugly nerd, you feel the need to bash the UFC every chance you get.

What a pure joke!

Go to an MMA gym for 1 day, just 1! And see how hard it is to learn this sport.

Reply

i fully agree with the second comment.
this happens very often.. punisheverybody or let it be..

Reply

true not many end up with the head damage boxers do. People who say its cockfighting have only seen highlight reels or knockout shows. White needs to take action, and when a fighter taps his opponent should immediately let go or be out. Babalu should be out for a year and then maybe he could come back, maybe not.

Reply

Bloody Pulp???? Choking until the opponent is unconscious??? I just don't get our society...I really don't. We will watch two men fight like uncivilized beings in a cage, and then watch as one of them chokes the other to a state of unconsciousness and thats ok??? But dog-fighting is a crime.. What the hell is the matter here. Sobral might get slapped with a fine..thats all? How about suspension, how about jail time for exceeding the scope of his fight. Sure one might argue that it is forseeable for a fighter to get hurt and even killed in UFC fighting and they are technically "assuming the risk" and therefore the opponent should not be slapped with a manslaughter or murder charge...after all this is organized fighting right? Well what about the situation where the fighter goes outside the scope of the fight...after the fight is over and continues to beat on his opponent until he is unconscious?? Shouldn't that be converted from the "scope of the fight" to "outside the scope of the fight" and hold with it a criminal penalty not just a penalty from the commission.

In my opinion, Sobral's actions are just as bad if not worse than Vick's yet I don't hear the media in an uproar over him practically trying to KILL a man. I don't hear the American public calling for him to step down and not fight anymore. I don't hear anyone saying pretty much anything. But kill a dog and all hell breaks loose. On the other hand, "choke a man to unconsciousness" or "beat a man to a bloody pulp" ... there is barely a story on it. Somethings wrong here.
www.myspace.com/girlsdontknowsports

Reply

Russ- MDS called the "human cockfighting" label "ridiculous"

reading is hard

Reply

I'm huge fan of Babalu and although this is an unfortunate event it is something that occurs very often in many MMA fights. I agree with the other commenters in if this specific event is to draw so much attention why not punish all those who jump that line. There have been so many more occurances that have been over looked.

The truth of the matter is that such brutality that some of you like to call it or human cock fighting has been around forever. The nature of this sport is what bring the fans and the attention. It is what it is and let's remember that when we watch such events. If you don't agree with it then watch something else. I'm sure dancing with the stars is more to your liking then. As we are all entitled to our own opinions this one is mine.

Reply

"2. This is no different then what BJ Penn did to Jens Pulver."

Nonsense.

When Pulver tapped BJ released him.

Sobral hung on far too long and it's going to cost him bigtime.

Reply

Erika, this is as bad as Vick? Get some perspective.

Reply

he could not have killed him so zip it.. and this article is utter bullshit.. liek u ever been in the ring before.HUH mike u ever trained??

Reply

Im amazed the writer chose to use the human cockfighting bit in the headline just to draw readers, pretty lame.
Anyways, what Babalu did was not dangerous and people are chocked unconscious on a regular basis in this type of competition and face little danger of brain damage or death for the split second they are out.
However, Babalu deserves punishment simply because he did not listen to the refs instructions and a fighter should do so at all times in the interest of safety and sportsmanship.
Action must also be taken to prevent people like Erika who see these kinds of isolated incidents and try and use it as an example for Mixed Martial Arts. I wonder if Erika thinks football is a mystery in this day and age or if you know the one person who has died in MMA was already banned from Fighting in the US while US auto racing has over 200 deaths since 1990.
Babalu does need to be adsressed but try not to use it as an example for an entire sport.

Reply

Babalu needs to be punished. I agree that often s%$t does happen after the bell as well as when a guy get's ko'd and theres a stoppage but usually it's in the heat of punches flying and there's major adrenaline pumping. You see a guy get ko'd and the victor continues to rain blows on him for a second or two. When this happens I do believ it's unintentional, there just flying at it and only on a slow replay do you see that the guy is ko'd, when your in the heat of battle I could see how you wouldn't recognize right away that your last punch ko'd the guy.
This incident with Babalu is different, he has said himself that it was intentional, simple as that.

Also, I had not heard of the report that he was charged with assault recently so that doesn't help either.

BIG fine and a suspension.

PS I'm a big UFC and Babalu fan!

Reply

Fine and a suspension.

He broke the rules and if it wasnt the end of the fight it would be considered cheating. It was cheating the sport and breaking the rules.

Reply