Babalu's "Lesson" in Respect Will Cost Him

The Nevada State Athletic Commission will reportedly withhold half of Babalu's $50,000 purse after the Brazilian light heavyweight held onto an anaconda choke well after opponent David Heath tapped out in Round 2 of their undercard UFC 74 fight last night. Referee Steve Mazzagatti worked to pry Babalu's arm off of an already bloodied and battered Heath, who had tapped, but by the time Babalu let go, Heath was out.

"I just thought that I needed to teach him respect after he showed me so much disrespect. I think that you can be fearless and tough and still maintain sportsmanship. He needed to be taught a lesson," said Babalu, who claims that Heath hurled obscenities at him.

If you saw the weigh-ins, it was clear that Babalu seemed to be the one intensifying things; Heath just kind of smiled and played along. I don't know what - if anything - happened between the two before or after that, but Babalu's "he cursed at me" explanation for holding onto the choke is almost laughable.

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Morning Droppings

- Renzo Gracie has eagerly responded to Frank Shamrock’s challenge to a rematch. "I never get invited to a party that I didn’t show up. I’d love to do it again."

- The David Heath-Renato “Babalu” Sobral fight is official and will take place on August 25 at UFC 74.

- Jason Gilliam will fill in for the injured Drew Fickett at UFC 73 against welterweight Chris Lytle.

Babalu to Face David Heath

UFC light heavyweight and MMA mainstay Renato "Babalu" Sobral will be facing the hard-punching David Heath, UFCJunkie is reporting.

Sobral is coming off a devastating upset KO loss to Jason Lambert at UFC 68, and Heath was handed his first loss by Lyoto Machida at UFC 70. For Sobral, a loss to Heath would be his third in as many fights and may land him on the UFC's chopping block.

Sobral, who most recently defeated Frank Mir in a submission grappling only type of thing for Tuff-N-Uff (yeah, I know), has done battle with the likes of Chuck Liddell (twice), Jeremy Horn, Shogun Rua, Maurice Smith, Kevin Randleman, Travis Fulton, Dan Henderson, and Fedor Emelianenko.

The Heath/Sobral fight was announced by Heath himself to friends and family, and the date and location of the fight is not yet known. I'll keep you posted as more details become available.