Renato “Babalu” Sobral was fined $25,000 on Monday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for excessively maintaining a submission hold on opponent David Heath at UFC 74, Keith Kizer, executive director for the NSAC, told MMAWeekly.com. Sobral was not suspended.
The fine follows the Aug. 25 fight in which Sobral defeated Heath, causing him to submit late in the second round from an Anaconda choke. Sobral allegedly intentionally maintained the hold even after referee Steve Mazzagatti made attempts to get him to release the choke.
Addressing the commission on Aug. 31, Sobral stated, “When [Heath] tapped, I didn’t feel it. I then looked to the referee, and he shook my shoulder, and then I let him go.”UFC president Dana White commented the night of the fight, “I am not happy about it. If you have an arm or leg of somebody in a submission where somebody seriously injures somebody, you'll never be back in UFC again.”
Sobral was subsequently released from his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract a few days later. Asked how this incident would affect Sobral’s future as a fighter in the state of Nevada, Kizer explained, “Like any other fighter, we will consider any request for Mr. Sobral to fight in Nevada again on the totality of circumstances that exist at that time.”
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Why wasn't BJ Penn kicked out of the UFC for holding the choke too long against Jens Pulver???
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Renato “Babalu” Sobral was fined $25,000 on Monday - Dana White is inconsistent.
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Because BJ Penn's hold on Pulver was shorter than Babalu's. If you play the videos side by side, you will see that Babalu held his hold for seconds after he was told by Mazagati to let go. Unlike Penn, who held the choke for around a second after he was told to let go by the ref.
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