Affliction Entertainment has officially added current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral (31-7-0) vs. Rameau Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjou (5-3-0) as part of the Affliction 2: ‘Day of Reckoning’ fight card.
Apparently, Affliction immediately signed Sokoudjou after the UFC had released him back in October. The African Assassin acquired two losses in the UFC which immediately booted him from the organization. His first loss came against Lyoto Machida at UFC 79 via an arm-triangle choke submission. His second defeat was against Luiz Cane at UFC 89, losing via TKO-strikes in the second round.
The Team Quest fighter Sokoudjou is only 24 years old and has notable wins over top MMA fighters including Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (brother to current UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) and Kazuhiro Nakamura. Although he has lost 2 of his last 3 fights, Sokoudjou plans to work even harder and simply learn from his mistakes. The young light heavyweight contender looks to have a very bright future in mixed martial arts after reviewing some of the quality of opponents he has faced in the past.
Babalu has won four consecutive fights with wins over David Heath, Rodney Glunder, Mike Whitehead and Bobby Southworth. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert acquired the Strikeforce 205-pound title after defeating Southworth via a TKO-cut at the Strikeforce: ‘Destruction’ event. The MMA veteran looks to keep his winning streak going, but this time against the very tough stand-up striker–Sokoudjou.
Affliction 2: ‘Day of Reckoning’ is scheduled to take place on January 24th, 2009. The main event headlines Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko vs. Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski.
Here’s how the Affliction 2: ‘Day of Reckoning’ fight card looks right now:
Main Fight Card (pay-per-view fights):
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski
- Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
- Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
- Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Sokoudjou
- Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Preliminary Fight Card (televised on HDNet):
- Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
- Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
- Mark Hominick vs. LC Davis
- Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
- Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov
**Fight card subject to change **
