Renato “Babalu” Sobral To Put

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title On The Line

Against Gegard Mousasi On August 15

August 15, 2009

HP Pavilion

San Jose, California

NEW YORK (July 27, 2009)–-The highly-anticipated showdown between Renato “Babalu” Sobral (35-8)

and Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1), which was suddenly cancelled by its original promoter last week, has been

revitalized and will be contested with Sobral’s STRIKEFORCE World Light Heavyweight (205 pounds)

Championship on the line at San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion on Saturday, August 15.

The title bout will be featured during the SHOWTIME televised portion of the STRIKEFORCE:  “Carano vs.

Cyborg” mixed martial arts (MMA) mega-card.

“I am very happy that STRIKEFORCE has resurrected this fight and that I will have the opportunity to

become STRIKEFORCE world champion,” said Mousasi, who is in the midst of a monstrous, 12 fight win

streak. The 23-year-old was crowned the first Dream Middleweight Champion and Middleweight Grand Prix

Tournament Champion last year in Japan.

“STRIKEFORCE is one of the world’s top promotions and I am proud to be a part of their roster of world-class

fighters,” he said.

His wins over Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Ronaldo Souza last year cemented Mousasi’s place as

one of the world’s top three middleweights.

Mousasi’s last victory, a first round (1:20) submission of former K-1 heavyweight champion Mark Hunt in

Yokohama, Japan on May 26^th of this year confirmed his desire and ability to conquer opponents in a heavier

weight class as did his first round (2:32) KO of Japanese heavyweight champion Musashi in a K-1

kickboxing rules bout in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2008.

The 33-year-old Sobral, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and former national wrestling champion for Brazil, will

defend his STRIKEFORCE championship for the first time since he seized the title from Bobby Southworth

at HP Pavilion on November 21, 2008.

Sobral, a former UFC championship challenger, is riding a five fight win streak that began with his second

round (3:30) submission of David Heath at UFC 74 on August 25, 2007.  In his last start, he submitted

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou with a brabo choke in the second round (2:36) of their meeting at Affliction: 

“Day of Reckoning” at Honda Center in Anaheim, California on January 24 of this year.

A year and a half ago, Sobral relocated from his homeland to Orange County, California where he has since

taken on former world championship boxing contender Justin Fortune as a trainer in order to bring his striking

skills up to par with his expertise in submissions.

Over the course of 43 career starts, Sobral has faced and defeated some of the sport’s best competitors

including legendary K-1 and UFC champion Maurice Smith.  On Sept. 6, 2003, Sobral knocked off three

top-tier rivals—Jeremy Horn, Mauricio “Ninja” Rua, and Trevor Prangley—during a single-elimination

tournament. 

In the main event on August 15, mixed martial arts’ (MMA) leading lady, the undefeated and extremely

popular Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0), will square off with rival powerhouse Cris “Cyborg” (7-1) in what

is one of the most eagerly anticipated battles of all time.

Carano and Cyborg, the consensus two best female fighters in the world, will be the first women in MMA

history to headline a major MMA fight card.  In addition, they will fight for the first STRIKEFORCE 145-pound

Female Championship.

STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight (155 pounds) Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2) will set out

to defend his crown against Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (15-2), the man whom Thomson dethroned by way

of unanimous decision at HP Pavilion on June 27, 2008.

ickets for STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office

(408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online

(www.ticketmaster.com), and the official STRIKEFORCE website (www.strikeforce.com).

HP Pavilion doors will open for the event at 5 p.m.  The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The live SHOWTIME telecast of STRIKEFORCE:  “Carano vs. Cyborg” will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (tape

delayed on the west coast).

After co-promoting two events live on SHOWTIME in 2007 and 2008, STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a

multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network. 

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006,

made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in

California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock

against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out,

record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive provider of martial arts

programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing

promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.”  In May 2008,

West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports &

Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San

Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

- Press Release from Strikeforce with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(7/27/09)