New Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion “Babalu” Renato Sobral (30-8) shared his thoughts on winning Bobby Southworth’s (9-5) belt at the post-fight press conference Friday night after Strikeforce: Destruction in San Jose. ...

Former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) spoke to the press after losing his title to “Babalu” Renato Sobral (30-8) Friday night at Strikeforce: Destruction in San Jose. ...

“Babalu” Renato Sobral (30-8) defeated Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) via TKO on doctor’s recommendation to win his belt at Strikeforce: Destruction Friday night in San Jose. Sobral went in and clinched.  Southworth grabbed Sobral’s leg and managed to wrestle him to the mat.  Southworth in his guard, Sobral climbed up Southworth’s back in a triangle attempt, but Southworth stood up out of it.  They clinched at the fence, each fighter trying some knees and punches, until referee “Big” John McCarthy separated them. "Babalu" crowded Southworth at the cage and threw a huge left elbow into Southworth’s face, causing sweat to fly.  The referee called a time out as blood started dripping out of Southworth’s right eyebrow with ten seconds left in the round, but allowed him to continue. Despite a strong finish by Southworth in the final seconds, with the crowd cheering so loud no one heard the horn, the referee called the fight after the first round. ...

Fighters.com was live at the Strikeforce: Destruction weigh-ins Thursday night at the Hotel DeAnza in San Jose. All fighters made weigh and, despite a delayed start and “Diesel” Joe Riggs’s (28-11) displeasure at having to strip, everything went smoothly. Riggs was not the only one who had to strip further than his ginch; the California State Athletic Commission requested that each fighter have only one crack at the scale, resulting in several weigh-ins behind towels. Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) looked cut.  He told Fighters.com Thursday afternoon that he had hired a new strength and conditioning coach. “Everybody’s been commenting on how my physique looks and how I’ve been performing.  So we’ll see how I perform tomorrow night,” Southworth said. Join Fighters.com Friday night for the live results. ...

Strikeforce has confirmed the full line-up for its Destruction event, which takes place 21 November in San Jose. Two title fights, between Strikeforce Lightweight Champion “The Punk” Josh Thomson (14-2-1) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) and between Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) and “Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8), will headline the event. Also featured is a welterweight bout between “Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-10) and Luke Stewart (4-1). The rest of the card includes: Lemont Davis (1-2) versus Brian Schwartz (0-1) at 175 lbs Brad Royster (1-1) versus Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) at 135 lbs Tony Johnson (0-1) versus Eric Lawson (2-2) at 185 lbs Alvin Cacdac (3-4) versus Jose Palacios (1-1) at  145 lbs Bobby Stack (2-1) versus Cyrillo Padilha (1-1) at 155 lbs Zakary Bucia (0-1) versus Jaime Rodriguez (0-0) at 155 lbs Kurt Osiander (2-0) versus Raul Castillo (2-0) at 185 lbs Nik Theotikos (5-0) versus Luke Rockhold (2-1) at 185 lbs ...

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) will defend his belt from "Babalu" Renato Sobral (30-7) in San Jose 21 November. Strikeforce Lightweight Champion "Punk" Josh Thomson (16-2) will also defend his title versus an opponent yet to be named. Before his last "W" over "Archer" Ashe Bowman (9-5) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, 20 September, Thomson expressed interest in fighting "Endless Fighter" Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1).  After the fight, Thomson also hoped to defend his title from Fighters.com's fourth-ranked lightweight and DREAM champ "Hellboy" Joachim Hansen (19-7-1). After knocking off former Strikeforce champ "El Nino" Gilbert Melendez (14-2) in San Jose 27 June, Thomson has been desperate for an opponent who'd help him crack the top ten. Southworth versus "Babalu" was originally scheduled for the 20 September card at the Playboy Mansion, but both fighters pulled up lame and spent the night chasing bunnies into the grotto (I assume). ...

SpikeTV announced Monday that it will air all twelve episodes of the debut season of reality show The Ultimate Fighter, as well as the finale, on 13 September. Clips of a reunion special filmed recently at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas will air throughout the marathon. TUF 1 cast members involved in the reunion are Fighters.com’s Light Heavyweight Champion and current UFC champion Forrest Griffin (16-4), Chris Leben (18-4), “American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar (11-4), Josh Koscheck (11-2), “Rock” Nathan Quarry (10-2), “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (10-3), “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (19-2), Bobby Southworth (9-5), and “Quick” Mike Swick (12-2). The reunion special will be hosted by Joe Rogan, and UFC President Dana White will also be on hand to discuss the impact the show has had on the UFC and on the sport of mixed martial arts. ...

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) will defend his title from "Babalu" Renato Sobral (30-7) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, 20 September. After defending his title from "El Toro" Anthony Ruiz (21-11) in a five-round unanimous decision in San Jose 27 June, the 38-year old champion told a post-fight press conference, "I'm getting on in years.  I'd like to fight some bigger names." Southworth then indicated his desire to fight "Babalu". "Babalu" won a three-round unanimous decision over Mike Whitehead (21-6) in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July and called out "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) after the "W". "That is my dream fight," Sobral told the post-fight press conference about a match-up with Ortiz. Affliction, one of Sobral's promoters, has yet to announced a rumoured deal with Ortiz. Of Southworth and hist belt, Sobral said, "He is the protector and I am the hunter.  I want to be the new Strikeforce world champion." ...

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) talked to reporters Friday in San Jose after defending his title from "El Toro" Anthony Ruiz (20-11) in a five-round UD. Southworth spoke about where he's come from and where he's going, the prospect of landing bigger fights, and the crowd's reaction to his victory. ...

Thursday afternoon in San Jose, Fighters.com was welcomed into Javier Mendez's American Kickboxing Academy by fight manager "Crazy" Bob Cook (5-0) to watch the pros sweat, twist, and roll on the mat. AKA is home gym to Fighters.com's top welterweight contenderJon Fitch(17-2), fourth-ranked "Kos" Josh Koscheck (10-2), lightweight "Punk" Josh Thomson (14-2), UFC heavyweights "Hungarian Nightmare" Christian Wellisch (8-4) and Cain Velasquez (3-0), Affliction heavyweight "Headhunter" Paul Buentello (25-10), and other professional fighters. ...

Fighters.com's sixth-ranked lightweight "El Niño" Gilbert Melendez (14-1) will defend his Strikeforce title from "The Punk" Josh Thomson (14-2) 27 June in San Jose, Strikeforce announced today. Thompson has been Strikeforce's top contender at 155-pounds for awhile.  Last September "The Punk" TKO'd Adam Lynn (11-8) in front of Hef' and the bunnies at the Playboy Mansion. Melendez mopped up an over-matched Gabe Lemley (11-7) in March after losing his first professional fight last December to "Endless Fighter" Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1). MMA Junkie reports Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (8-5) will defend his title versus Anthony Ruiz (20-10) on the same card. ...