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.
