“African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou has signed to be “Babalu” Renato Sobral’s (30-8) new opponent, and welterweight Patrick Speight (7-1) will face Brett Cooper (6-3) at Affliction: Day of Reckoning 24 January in Anaheim, CA, the organization announced Thursday. Sokoudjou, Fighters.com's tenth-ranked light heavyweight, was recently released from the UFC after his second-round TKO loss to ninth-ranked "Banha" Luis Arthur Cane (7-1) at UFC 89 in October. Sobral last fought at Strikeforce: Destruction in November, winning Bobby Southworth’s (9-5) light heavyweight title with a referee stoppage due to a cut. Speight suffered his first career loss in October via unanimous decision to Alex Cisne (4-1) at King of the Cage. Cooper KO’d Dusty Arden (10-6-1) in round two in June. ...

Affliction Veep Tom Atencio told SI.com Thursday that light heavyweight "Babalu" Renato Sobral (29-7) has been matched versus Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Whitehead (20-5) for the apparel-company-turned-promoter's debut 19 July in Anaheim, outside of Los Angeles. Whitehead was dismissed from the UFC after losing a unanimous decision to Fighters.com's fourth-ranked 205-pounder “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (13-3-1) in February 2006, his only official appearance in the big show. Since that loss, Whitehead has wracked up 11 straight wins, nine by stoppage, in several promotions, including a four-fight stint in the IFL. Sobral is 2-1 since challenging then-champ and sixth-ranked “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-5) for the UFC title in August 2006. He was dismissed from the big show after holding an anaconda choke several seconds after David Heath (7-3) obviously tapped out, then bragging about it. Atencio also added the following fights to the official card: Savant Young (9-7) v "The Machine" Mark Hominick (15-8) Ray Lazama (5-5) v Justin Levens (9-8) JJ Ambrose (9-1) v Patrick Speight (6-0) "Quicksand" Mike Pyle (15-5-1) v Brett Cooper (7-4) ...