#4 Renato Sobral vs. David Heath – UFC 74: Respect – 08/26/07
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Thus far all of the listed fights ended in knockouts. This one was a bit different in that it ended in a submission. Well, sort-of.
When the booking of Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral and David Heath was announced for UFC 74, it hardly sounded like fireworks. Both men were coming off losses and needed a win to keep their UFC career going, but there wasn’t especially a rivalry.
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That was, until the weigh-in.
What exactly happened at the weigh-in has never truly been confirmed. The rumour I heard was that Heath wore a t-shirt depicting Babalu’s mugshot after a recent arrest, a rumour denied by Heath. For his part, Babalu claimed Heath called him “motherfucker”.
Regardless, something nasty was triggered inside the Brazilian’s head.
After a first round dominated by Babalu on the ground from top position, it seemed like Heath was doomed. He couldn’t stop the takedown and he was outclassed on the mat. He probably didn’t realise quite how bad it would get.
A takedown from Babalu opened the second round and this time he began to land elbows, opening a cut bad enough for this fight to appear on lists of the bloodiest fights in MMA history. Heath was indeed wearing the “crimson mask”.
Babalu continued to beat on Heath until he attempted to create a scramble to escape. He gave his neck in the process, and Babalu locked up a picture-perfect anaconda choke. After a moment, Heath tapped out.
Unfortunately for him, Babalu wasn’t done.
Rather than release the hold – even when referee Steve Mazzagatti tried to separate the fighters – Babalu simply bit down on his mouthpiece and squeezed even harder. Kicking his legs like a dying man, Heath twitched and then passed out.
The Brazilian finally released once Heath was unconscious, leaving him laying in a pool of his own blood. This was about as close to a Mortal Kombat-style “fatality” as I can recall in the UFC, but thankfully Heath did recover.
Babalu didn’t even try to deny or make an excuse for what he’d done post-fight, coldly stating that he wanted to teach Heath a lesson. It would be the last time we’d see the Brazilian in the Octagon as he was cut shortly after due to the incident.
