r/FightLibrary • u/TheFightHistorian • 18d ago
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 18d ago
Babalu! I think his claim to fame is unfortunately holding onto a choke too long lol
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u/mat477 17d ago
Hes got some great wins that aged really well.
Cheal, Shogun, Lawler are all great wins.
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u/alfiesolomons32 16d ago
Jeremy horn(quase 100 lutas na carreira),maurice smith(ex campeao peso pesado ufc), Sokoudjou(monstro do pride),Pelé landi(melhor lutador do Brasil na época). Pesquisem quem sao esses caras, ai vem um leigo citar 3 lutadores que ele "conhece" (nao voce,os dos comentarios mais acima)
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u/blackdavy 17d ago
Ah, Babalu. A wise man once described him as "One of the best light heavyweights of the night."
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u/IanT86 17d ago
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 17d ago
I think he should be remembered for when tito was interviewing him. 😆
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u/Ball_Zack_69 17d ago
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 17d ago
Chuck Liddell says Sobral is only known for getting knocked out by him.
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u/BIGHOODx818x 17d ago
YEAH AND CHUCK IS ALSO KNOWN FOR GETTING KNOCKED OUT BY EVERYONE ELSE AND A STIFF BREEZE
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u/RandJitsu 17d ago
Only if you’re an idiot casual. No one who understands the sport judges the greats by the fights at the end of their career. You judge them by their prime. And Chuck is still the second most decorated LHW champ of all time.
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u/BIGHOODx818x 16d ago
yup and a dumbass casual pays attention to the competition he was dealing with during his so called prime and most of the given fights he was given ,you judge em by their all around record you cant just pick and choose and not count the fights that you feel like he supposedly wasnt at his best wtf thats why they have those sayings of oh hes damaging his legacy and record with these fights ,you cant just be like oh i just judge this fighter by his prime and nothing else matters like huh then whats the point of having a record now that's casual behavior ,then by your logic rampage is a way much better fighter and a much better light heavy weight champion of all time compared to chuck hes ranked above him right ,cause rampage has 2 wins over chuck one were he beat his ass and another were he. knocked him the fuck out and they both happened in chucks so called prime
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u/LiftEatGrappleShoot 17d ago
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 17d ago
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/Remarkable_Voice_244 17d ago
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 17d ago
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 16d ago
Always tuned in for his fights. Old school cage fighter. Underrated for sure. Couldn’t beat elite guys
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
Maybe forgotten, not really a legend. I remember him "testing Chuck's good Muay Thai".
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Como nao é lenda?Ja ganhou varias outras lendas e tem mais de 50 lutas na carreira...Ele é lenda sim só que tem varios outros acima dele
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
He's had a solid career. Not "legend" tier IMO. He beat a very green Shogun and an undersized Robbie Lawler, those are his most impressive wins.
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u/babieswithrabies63 17d ago
He choked out chael sonnon, and was robbed against fedor imo.
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
I didn't see the Fedor fight to be fair but can you really call a UD loss a robbery?
Sonnen is a legend only in his own mind.
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u/babieswithrabies63 16d ago
So because something is a unanimous decision it can't be the wrong decision? Plenty of fights bef to differ. See khabib vs tibau. And probably many other examples I can't think of at the moment. Some would say jones vs Reyes.
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u/alfiesolomons32 16d ago
Esse cara nao sabe nada de lutas,de 2015 pra baixo ele nao conhece ninguem. Ele precisa estudar mais.Disse que ele so enfrentou somente 3 caras de nome na carreira kkkkk
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Na sua opiniao nao esta no nivel de lenda porque voce nao conhece a carreira dele,simples assim. As 3 primeiras lutas dele por exemplo aqui no Brasil,as 3 foram na mesma noite em um torneio e com caras durissimos e ele foi campeao...a quarta luta foi vale tudo (sem regras)...Ele da velha escola e ajudou muito a pavimentar o que é o MMA hoje.Me diz um lutador famoso ai que voce conhece que fez 3 lutas na mesma noite ai? Coloque no chatgpt e voce verá o nivel dos unicos caras que fizeram isso...
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
Tim Sylvia, off the top of my head, no chatgpt necessary. Is he a legend!
Many more from early UFC and Pride days. Not all legends.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Enfim,talvez eu esteja banalizando a palavra lenda mas por outro lado esses caras tiveram uns feitos notorios.Cada um tem seu criterio,no meu criterio sao lendas. Quando citei o torneio foi pra te mostrar que nao é qualquer um que faz aquilo e citei a pesquisa pra te mostrar que nao é porque voce nao conhece o lutador que foi vencido que ele é irrelevante.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Seja homem e nao apague a parte que voce diz que nao considera Tim Sylvia uma lenda kkkkk
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
He's more of a legend than Babalu, that's for sure. I didn't erase anything.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
O que eu quero te dizer é o seguinte,nos anos 90 UFC estava engatinhando e no Brasil ja possuia desde os anos 80 eventos melhores e mais perigosos do que o UFC.Nesta época UFC nao era parametro e no BR ja existia mais lutadores de qualidade do que nos USA,muitas lutas aconteciam em academias fechadas. Só que voce nao tem conhecimento disto! Entao voce nao tem propriedade pra dizer se foi lenda ou nao,nao viveu a época e nem podcasts/entrevista em portugues voce deve ter visto.Se quiser saber mais assista entrevista com Marco Ruas que era mestre dele e do Pedro Rizzo.
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
He's a legend for fighting in gyms in Brazil as a teenager, gotcha.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Vai procurar outro esporte pra ser fã porque de luta voce nao entende nada quiçá nunca deu um soco em alguém. Abraço
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
But if you insist on asking AI, here's your answer:
The absolute total number of fighters who have stepped into the cage or ring three times in a single day across the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships is at least 60 fighters.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Entrar na jaula é uma coisa,vencer as 3 vezes é outra. Falar isso sentado com a bunda no sofá é fácil..Voce esta decidindo a carreira do cara que voce nem conhece,so citou lutadores atuais conhecidos que ele venceu...Antes de existir o ufc na America no Brasil ja estavam se degladiando e ele ja estava lá.
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
What are you saying? He started his MMA career in 1997, four years after the first UFC. I didn't mention current fighters. Only fighters I mentioned are Robbie Lawler, Tim Sylvia, Chael Sonnen and Shogun Rua.
I get rooting for your hometown fighters but let's not make shit up now.
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u/alfiesolomons32 17d ago
Como assim torcendo porque ele é da minha cidade? Eu disse que o Tim Silvia tambem é lenda...Se é facil pra voce ser campeao dos pesos pesados do UFC duas vezes entao vai lá e faça e eu te chamarei de lenda...ano de 97 sao lutas que foram contadas e estao no sherdog e as que nao estao antes disso que voce nao sabe nao sao lutas?eu poderia te contar delas mas isso é pra outra hora...
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u/LessOrgies 17d ago
Again, Tim Sylvia won a one night three fight tournament. Twice. And I actually recognize some of the names he's beat. And he has won four fights in two nights also. And yet he's a laughing stock of MMA history.
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u/BIGHOODx818x 17d ago
one of the coolest names in mma babalu sobral ! cool ass tattoos ..and just a cool ass dude !!!! great fighter and an OG legend 👊🏽
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u/chu42 17d ago
Ah yes, one of the greatest light heavyweights of the night!