The most important part of tonight was Babalu insisting on a variety of post-fight interviews that he will not fight King Mo for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title. To Renato, friendship means astronomically more than having a shot at the belt however, Scott Coker stated at the post-fight press conference that he would ‘have a serious talk with Renato’. Probably the same ‘serious talk’ your father gave you when you were suspended from high school for not fighting your best friend in a sanctioned MMA match.
As far as the actual bout, Babalu proved that he has an iron chin that can withstand unintentional nuclear blasts in the form of Robbie Lawler’s right hook. Some called it a split decision for Robbie Lawler but what ultimately matters are the judges inside the Nokia Theater who called it a unanimous decision victory for Babalu. Shortly after the fight ended, I managed to follow Babalu down the hallway with my camera and filmed the progression of the cut under his eye as it transformed into a near alien-like creature that closed his left eye forcing him to make a visit to the emergency room in Los Angeles. Be sure to look out for the video sometime this week. It’s not for the faint of heart or anyone that has actually used that phrase in a sentence.
