Thread: Affliction - Babalu dreams of Tito Ortiz fight

News Item

"Babalu" dreaming of Affliction bout with Tito Ortiz
by John Morgan on Jul 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm ET
After a successful return to action against Mike Whitehead at Saturday's "Affliction: Banned" event, light heavyweight Renato "Babalu" Sobral (30-7) hinted at a possibility for his next opponent -- the perhaps-soon-to-be-ex UFC star Tito Ortiz (15-6-1).

The discussion began when Sobral was asked at the post-fight press conference if he would be interested in facing fellow victorious light-heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who had dispatched of Edwin Dewees earlier in the evening.

"Nogueira is a friend of mine," Sobral said. "We've trained together before. Of course, if we're going to have to fight, we'll fight. But that's not the fight I'm looking for.

"I'm looking for another guy. Wait for the name. It's coming. I think (Affliction Vice President) Tom (Atencio) is going to bring a name for me. And I'll be here to kick his ass."

When probed further by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Sobral admitted it was Ortiz he was after.

"That's my dream fight," a smiling Sobral said.

Atencio said while a fight between Sobral and Ortiz, who have never fought, is not a top priority, Affliction would be interested in hosting the match if a mutually beneficial deal could be brokered.

"[Signing Ortiz] is definitely not a priority, but it is something that when he's finished with his contract -- I know [the UFC] has a negotiation period and some kind of a grace period -- when he's done with that, we can talk to him," Atencio said on Wednesday. "If that's a fight that seems financially viable, then absolutely. It's going to come down to dollars and cents, and it's going to come down to if it works for us."

Ortiz, who is winless in his past three bouts, has been vocal about his desire to compete outside the UFC. As reported previously by MMAjunkie.com, EliteXC has also shown interest in the former champion. Ortiz has also mentioned the possibility of starting his own promotion.

John Morgan is the lead staff reporter for MMAjunkie.com.

Originally Posted by WanderleiSliver

I would love to see Babalu choke Tito out.

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Originally Posted by WanderleiSliver

I would love to see Babalu choke Tito out.

Me too, just not so sure it would happen.....

Tito and Babalu would be a good match up. I would like to see it hopefully by years end.

I see Tito getting choke out in a bad way.

Babalu is better than Tito in every aspect of the sport.

Originally Posted by SmashingMachine

This'd be a good fight. Babalu should just keep it standing, given his display of hands against Whitehead. Tito's too good with elbows when he's in someone's guard and I doubt he'd get caught in a submission. His own BJJ is pretty decent, he's done the ADCC thing, I think Babalu would want to keep this one standing.

Babalu is heaps better than Tito in striking, but Babalu is also just as good a wrestler as Tito. I don't Babalu has to worry at all if the fight goes to the ground.

I dont really care too much for either of these guys

Originally Posted by ninjashoes

I dont really care too much for either of these guys

Good to know.

I would love to see this fight and I see Babalu coming out the victor.

I snapped a pic of my grilfriend after Affliction aired..............





I would rather see Tit fade away.

Personality wise, I don't like either fighter, but Babalu probably has more skills to end this fight.

As for tito starting his own promotion....well that sounds like a crazy bad idea to me. if it happens, i predict it fails and vanishes within 6 months.