Thanks to Blog of Hilarity for pointing us to the video of Renato "Babalu" Sobral's fight with David Heath at UFC 74. If you just want to get to the controversy, fast forward to almost the end of the video, where Babalu refuses to let go of his choke hold after Heath taps out. (This is semi-NSFW, as at one point, you can hear someone call Babalu an a--hole, but it's barely audible, and if you're at an office where you can watch a violent UFC fight, you can probably get away with a little bit of bad language, too.)
As I wrote yesterday, I believe Babalu should be kicked out of UFC for this. Mixed martial arts will never become a mainstream sport if its athletes can't abide by a rule as fundamental as letting go of a hold when the opponent taps out.
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UFC 74 Video: Babalu Won't Let Go After David Heath Taps Out
Posted Aug 27th 2007 1:23PM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Fighting
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. It's unrelated, but check this out MDS:
http://thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=4673
Coutre was fighting with a broken arm.
Posted at 3:08PM on Aug 27th 2007 by Dan
2. Hope he his suspended for long. I will say one thing in the early UFC days we have seen royce gracie do the same.
Posted at 4:41PM on Aug 27th 2007 by Frederick
3. I don't think that Babalu will get kicked out for this, but there will be some severe implications. He obviously held on for too long, and he even admits to it that he was trying to teach him a lesson. He didn't need to do that because he had been pounding on him all match. He even opened up a huge cut on the dude's forehead. It was a disgrace to himself and the sport. All that did was bring down more controversy on a sport that is just now starting to gain some mainstream acceptance.
Posted at 4:58PM on Aug 27th 2007 by ernie
4. That kind of stuff happens all the time.
Posted at 5:16PM on Aug 27th 2007 by Matthew.Noll
5. It doesn't happen all the time anymore. Fighters respect each other. This is the thing that gives mma a bad name in the media. REAL BUSH LEAGUE for Babalu.
Posted at 10:49PM on Sep 2nd 2007 by rick card
6. I don't see where Dana and the rest of the board can diffinativly draw a line on this issue, this is not the first time this has happened. Now, I don't condone what Renato did, but I do understand how mistakes can be made when emotions, and adrenaline are high.
In comparison, BJ Penn acted in a similar fashion in the past.
Also, (my perception, anyhow), Matt Hughes before fighting Frank Trigg for the millionth time, said "this time I gotta hurt him", and in the insuing match, he twice had Frank in a rear naked choke, and could have easily won the fight, but he let him go, pounded him a half dozen more times, and then applied the choke again. Not the same scenario as Renato, but clearly put his opponents health and well being on the line.
And to top it all off, Dana regularly put a man in the ring, (Matt Hammill), who is deaf, and is incapable of hearing the end of round bell, or referee stoppage. Again, I'm not condoning Renato's behavior, but it seems that there is no really firmly drawn line. I agree that Renato crossed the line, but he's not the first. yet he IS the first to be publicly punished.
And I in no way mean to take anything away from Matt Hammill, he's an outstanding fighter, and an inspiration for disabled athletes across the globe. I simply needed to point out that in his case, the referee is responsible for his opponents well being, as it should be in all fights, so if a referee can't control a fighter, in a case like Renato's fight at UFC74, he should not be the man "in charge of the action", as it has so many times been put.
Posted at 11:32AM on Sep 9th 2007 by Liam