Renato 'Babalu' Sobral: No Hard Feelings Toward UFC, but Affliction Feels Like Home

By Michael David Smith - Lead Blogger

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Renato "Babalu" Sobral was once a popular fighter in the UFC, and he challenged Chuck Liddell for the light heavyweight title in the main event at UFC 62.

But Babalu's stock in the MMA world plummeted at UFC 74, when he refused to let go of an anaconda choke after David Heath tapped out. The Nevada State Athletic Commission docked his pay, and the UFC kicked him out of the organization.

Babalu has fought three times for three different organizations since then, and he will fight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at the Affliction: Day of Reckoning event on January 24. But while Babalu's career isn't in the same place it once was, he says he's content.

"I don't have bad feelings at all," Babalu told me today on a call to promote Day of Reckoning. "Things happen for a reason. I made a mistake and I had to pay for that."

Part of the reason Babalu doesn't have any bad feelings, he said, is because he's happy fighting for Affliction now.

"Affliction feels like home," he said. "They treat me very well."

Read More: babalu, day of reckoning, dayofreckoning, rameauthierrysokoudjou, affliction, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (MMA)

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