By JOSHUA MOLINA
When Renato “Babalu” Sobral steps into the cage against Robbie Lawler, the fight won’t only be about sport.
A TKO loss to the dangerous Gegard Mousasi nearly a year ago, served as a jarring reminder to Sobral that he must always be in the right mental and emotional zone before entering the cage, and not let any personal distractions affect him. This time will be different, he promises.
“I have hate in my heart,” Sobral said, leading up to the fight.
Sobral’s longtime manager Richard Wilner offered a glimpse into Sobral’s state of mind.
“He doesn’t see it as a sport,” Wilner said. “He sees it as an opportunity to kick ass. Babalu ideally dislikes the guy that he is fighting. He’s turned down fights with friends or students of friends. It’s in his DNA.”
Sobral will bring that vicious intensity into the cage against Lawler in the main event of a special edition of STRIKEFORCE on Wednesday, June 16 at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, on SHOWTIME®.
In this fight, Sobral has a lot to prove. Before the TKO loss to Mousasi, he steamrolled some tough opponents, on way to a five-fight winning streak.
For the upcoming Lawler fight, Sobral said he is ready to reclaim his success and defeat the well-regarded Lawler. Three weeks before the fight, Sobral is training three times a day, mixing two-hour Muay Thai and MMA workouts with one-hour jiu-jitsu sessions, along with boxing, wrestling and strength and conditioning.
Despite his wicked attitude, Sobral (35-8), a native of Brazil, said he has a lot of respect for Lawler’s abilities inside the cage and calls him “an elite-level fighter.”
“In terms of his strengths, I think he is incredibly tough, has heavy hands and trains with guys who are equally tough, if not tougher than him” said Sobral, who is a member of the Gracie Barra Combat Team.
In his last fight, Lawler crushed Melvin Manhoef with an overhand right in the first round of their STRIKEFORCE matchup at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on January 30.
If Sobral is smart, he will attempt to avoid Lawler’s strong hands and take Lawler to the ground. Lawler (17-5) has knocked out 14 of his opponents, but only has one submission victory. Sobral has won 18 of his fights by submission and another 12 by decision.
Among his most notable fights was a grueling, competitive battle against STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global’s Fedor Emelianenko, in 2001 in Japan, where Sobral lost a unanimous decision in a two-round fight.
After the Lawler fight, Sobral hopes to fight in STRIKEFORCE with more frequency. He’d like to fight every four months.
If he gets past Lawler, Sobral wants a rematch with Mousasi and to fight Dan Henderson, whom he lost to in a Japanese tournament in 1999. A victory over Lawler could help Sobral live many of his MMA dreams.
“I have complete faith in (STRIKEFORCE CEO) Scott Coker and STRIKEFORCE and am optimistic that with the multiple fighters they have signed, not to mention Scott’s relationships in Japan and in Europe, there will be no shortage of quality fighters for me to fight.”
