Babalu Versus Sokoudjou Solidifies Exciting Affliction Card

By: Keith Grienke

George St. Pierre against BJ Penn is the fight most fans are most looking forward to watching. However, hands down, the best card of 2009 right now has to be Affliction: Day of Reckoning. Now Affliction has announced the addition of recently released UFC fighter Rameau Sokoudjou. The African Assassin will be facing the Renator “Babalu” Sobral in an exciting Light-heavyweight matchup.

Sokoudjou exploded on the MMA scene in 2007 with a pair of PRIDE knockouts wins against Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Sokoudjou (5-3) was recently released by the UFC after losing his last bout to Luis Cane at UFC 89. Sokoudjou’s look and power always make him a favorite of the fans, but his stamina seem to cost him fights in later rounds.

Sobral is another ex-UFC fighter who once challenged Chuck Liddell for the UFC Light-heavyweight belt. Sobral (31-7) is on a four fight win streak and recently won the Strikeforce Light-heavyweight belt after stopping Bobby Southworth with a serious cut. Sobral likes the ground and over 50% of his wins come via submission.

This fight between Sokoudjou and Sobral is a classic striker versus submission specialist contest. This fight joins other fantastic matchups including: Andrei Arlovski vs Fedor Emelianenko, Vitor Belfort vs Matt Lindland, and Chris Horodecki and Dan Lauzon. Right now, Affliction: Day of Reckoning is packed from top to bottom which makes it the card to watch in 2009. Here is the entire card for the January 24 event:

Payperview bouts:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski

Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel

Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon

HDNet Bouts

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Jay Hieron vs. Jason High

Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis

Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios

Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight