On Wednesday, June 16th, Renato “Babalu” Sobral will clash with “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler when Strikeforce travels to Los Angeles, CA. Sobral (35-8) is a hard hitting fighter with an excellent ground game, with 18 of his wins coming by way of submission. He also has 5 knockouts. Lawler (17-5) is a polar opposite, as he prefers to stand in front of his opponents and throw bombs. 14 of his Lawler’s victories have been by way of knockout.
In his last fight, MMA odds favorite, Renato Sobral fell victim to Gegard Mousasi. He was knocked out in the very first round. Sobral is a veteran fighter, though, and will be looking to bounce back. Before the Mousasi loss, he had not lost since March of 2007. Sobral typically uses a variety of chokes to finish his opponent.
Robbie Lawler last fought on January 30, 2010. He squared off against Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef in what was an absolute war. Manhoef was teeing off on Lawler, nailing him with vicious leg kicks until Lawler caught him with a devastating punch that sent him tumbling to the canvas. Lawler won by knockout. However, Lawler has shown weakness against fighters with a good submission game before, as he was choked out by Jake Shields in 2009.
While Lawler and Sobral both bring a different style to this fight, they both come to finish fights. Neither guy likes to grind out decisions, which always leads to exciting fights. One way or the other, both guys are always entertaining.