Robbie Lawler vs. Renato Sobral Review: Strikeforce – MMA
Strikeforce presented a fight between “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Renato “Babalu” Sobral, on Wednesday, 16th June. As Lawler is a striker and Sobral is great on the ground, this was thought to be a classic clash of styles. Instead, it turned in to a stand-up battle that ended with Sobral taking a unanimous decision, 29-28.
Sobral managed to take Lawler down twice, in the first round, but he was unable to keep him there. Sobral tried to stay close to Lawler by tying up in the clinch, once they were back on their feet. Sobral did a great job varying his strikes, throwing both punches and kicks.
Into the second round, Sobral connected with a hard body kick second. Sobral landed a vicious shot to the body that sent Lawler stumbling backward, although Lawler managed to connect with several hard shots. As the round went on, Sobral continued to work Lawler’s body, mixing up punches and kicks, leaving Lawler’s left side purple.
Lawler came out aggressive and looking to finish, in the third round. Looking for a big punch, he followed Sobral around the cage, but he never found it. Lawler clearly won the third round, although Sobral nailed him with a few more shots to the body.
Any MMA fan watching the fight had to be entertained, all in all. For a war, both fighters showed up, and they delivered it. It was still a great showing for both guys, even though, in the end, Sobral’s footwork and kicks won out.