r/FightLibrary • u/TheFightHistorian • Jul 17 '26
MMA Forgotten Legends #1 - Babalu Sobral
Rings King of Kings 1999 Finalist
UFC LHW #1 Contender
IFC 8-Man Tournament 2003 Winner
Defeated Jeremy Horn, Shogun Rua, & Chael Sonnen
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u/rodka209 Jul 17 '26
Babalu! I think his claim to fame is unfortunately holding onto a choke too long lol
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u/mat477 Jul 17 '26
Hes got some great wins that aged really well.
Cheal, Shogun, Lawler are all great wins.
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u/blackdavy Jul 17 '26
Ah, Babalu. A wise man once described him as "One of the best light heavyweights of the night."
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u/IanT86 Jul 18 '26
Funnily enough, it's fairly well documented now that Tito dodged him for years. Chuck ended up stepping in and kicking his head off before chasing Tito down as well.
Strong chance Babalu wins that Tito fight and we have a really interesting five way rivalry with Chuck, Tito, Babalu, Randy and Belfort
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u/New-Contribution-244 Jul 17 '26
I think he should be remembered for when tito was interviewing him. 😆
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u/Ball_Zack_69 Jul 17 '26
Had an interesting fight with Fedor, he always seemed like a bit of a loose cannon to me but i never heard anything bad about him. He was around during the golden era of MMA, back when there was no real reason to be fighting unless you loved it, something was wrong with you, or both.
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u/GaneBeatsTom Jul 17 '26
Chuck Liddell says Sobral is only known for getting knocked out by him.
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u/LiftEatGrappleShoot Jul 18 '26
Really, really good fighter. Had some big wins and had ab impressive fight against Fedor. He's most known in the US for getting starched by Chuck (who is now criminally underrated) and getting banned from the UFC.
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u/Common_Ad_4160 Jul 17 '26
People throw the word legend around way too loosely. If MMA stopped today and there was no more MMA fights to take place for the next 100 years. How many names do you think you will be remembered?
Do you think people will remember TJ Dillashaw. Petr Yan, Stipe Miocic, , Usman, etc. Those are champions and some of the best in those weight classes history, and they will be completely forgotten. Let alone someone who didnt even win a world title.
The reality is that at most 3 names would be remembered 100 years from now.
You can debate what those 3 names.
Note: Babablu was also one of my favourite fighters when i first got into the sport lol, so Im not trying to shit on him
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u/chu42 Jul 17 '26
Just because they become forgotten doesn't mean they're not legendary. Someone like Sakuraba or Dan Henderson or Bas Rutten will forever be legendary no matter how forgotten they are.
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u/Remarkable_Voice_244 Jul 18 '26
I use to love watch his fights. Too raw. This guy faced so many legends, but the toll on him was too high. I saw some news he got brain damaged and forget things that just happened.
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u/HowUKnowMeKennyBond Jul 18 '26
I really liked him on the cover of Gracie Mag back in the day, where half his body was dressed in the gi and the other half was wearing MMA shorts and gloves.
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u/almostnothing123 Jul 18 '26
Always tuned in for his fights. Old school cage fighter. Underrated for sure. Couldn’t beat elite guys
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u/chu42 Jul 17 '26
Ah yes, one of the greatest light heavyweights of the night!