Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Frank Mir (submission wrestling)

Thanks for the video had no clue those 2 ever grappled with each other. Good solid fight Babalu is the more technical of the 2 obviously and most complete as a grappler.

 

You know Babalu started out a wrestler. I cant think of any other Brazilian who did. His skills are good and and hes just not quite as good a fighter as he should be, for some reason. A bit like Gonzaga (but not as disappointing as Gabe, obv.)

 

It just shows that submission grappling and MMA have a different flow. Mir starts off strong against Babalu and Nelson. Babalu and Nelson are both able to use technique to defeat the stronger Mir, who uses his strength to take an early lead in both videos.

Whether the fight be standing, or on the ground, strikes create a different flow. Babalu hasn't been as successful in following this type of flow. This is true of many high level submission grapplers that attempt both sports.

 

his chin.

 

:yep Big part of it this guy is knocked out cold on average of what seems every 3-4 fights.

 

People seem to be under the impresson that Mir has had a more sucessful career than Babalu in sporting terms, sorry but he's not anywhere close. He seems to be on the slide a bit now(still beat Lawler this year) but he is 4 years older than Mir and has a 36-9 record compaired to a 14-5 record. Mir just got lucky fighting a very green Lesnar and greatly declined versions of Crocop and Nog on a big stage IMHO.

You can argue Babalu's standup isnt as good as Mir's(although I think he takes a punch better) but he's obviously a much better wrestler for his size and on the ground he's clearly adapted to MMA more sucessfully. We've seen Mir totally helpless on his back agenst GnP loads of times and barely ever use it to his advanatge. Babalu has been TKOed a few times but he's stood up to far more punishment than Mir and has often ysed it on offence.

Mir has the same problem as Lesnar, he simply can't take punishment, if someone lands anything decent on him he turtles and gets TKOed.

 

I'm drinking during many of my posts. Especially on the weekends. I shouldn't have mentioned Babalu as being one of the guys that didn't have success. I actually consider him to be a successful fighter. They can't all be champions. There are plenty of good fighters that will never carry the honor of being the best in their division. I was thinking more along the lines of fighters like Wallid Ismail, who has a winning mma record; but doesn't have near the success he had at sport jiu-jitsu.

 

Just seemed like I'd entered the twilight zone where Frank Mir had a better chin and was more adapted to GnP than Babalu.

I'd say the main reason for the latter not quite making it at the highest level is that his wrestling isnt THAT great, better than your average BJJer but not so good that it can cover the holes in his standup.

 

Mir tried for the Kimura from underneath mount. Wonder how strong you'd have to be to pull that off.

 

Mir's not a strong heavy in my opinion. Iv seen him manhandled too much to realise he just doesnt have the natural strength or conditioning. Personally i think he could have faired much better if he had plied his trade at 205lbs. the cut may have been a struggle initially but he only started training because has overweight. Plus he's never been a large heavy. Structurally he's quite small.

 

Wasn't really thinking along those lines, but now you mention it...

Babalu is just one of those fighters I thought would have been more successful than he was. He still had a decent run.

 

As I said I think he depended a bit too much on his wrestling and it wasnt really good enough to cover the gaps in his standup.

Even someone like Arona did at least have his leg kicks to keep opponants at bay standing.