Renato Sobral da Cunha (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁeˈnatu soˈbɾaw]; born 7 September 1975),[6] also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion.

He is the Head Instructor of Babalu's Iron Gym Cerritos[2] and has a Luta Livre black belt under Marco Ruas and also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. Sobral is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and began competing in wrestling from a young age of nine.

[7][8] Sobral made his professional mixed martial arts debut on 27 September 1997 in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.

[citation needed] Sobral made his RINGS debut against Georgian wrestler Zaza Tkeshelashvili and won via kimura arm submission.

[citation needed] Sobral then won his next four consecutive fights before losing to Valentijn Overeem by a toe hold submission.

Sobral next fought future Middleweight and Light Heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen at UFC 55 on 7 October 2005.

"[9] In his dressing room after the fight, Sobral spoke to Las Vegas Journal-Review columnist Ed Graney.

"[10] Additionally, the Nevada State Athletic Commission withheld $25,000 of Sobral's $50,000 fight purse and convened a hearing to deal with both his holding the choke and ignoring Mazzagatti's orders.

[13] Sobral also later competed in an event for the Ring of Fire promotion, defeating K-1 veteran Rodney Faverus by submission (arm triangle choke).

Sobral was scheduled to fight fellow UFC veteran Vernon "Tiger" White in a match to crown the first WCO Light Heavyweight Champion.

Babalu defeated Southworth via TKO due to a cut over the right eye in between round one and two, making him the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion.

Sobral was set to fight fellow Brazilian Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at the past event Strikeforce Presents: Lawler Vs. Shields in St. Louis, Missouri on 6 June 2009, but the bout was scratched.

Sobral last fought Robbie Lawler in a 195 lbs Catchweight bout on 16 June 2010 at Strikeforce: Los Angeles.

After defeating Robbie Lawler it was believed that Sobral would face Muhammed Lawal for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title.

However, in his post-fight interview Sobral stated that he would not fight Lawal and instead requested a rematch with Dan Henderson who he fought over ten years ago.

[22] Sobral was slated to fight Melvin Manhoef on 31 March 2012 at ONE Fighting Championship 3 which was to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore but the two sides were unable to agree on a weight and he instead became the wrestling coach in Wanderlei Silva's team on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.

He defeated Tatsuya Mizuno at ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors in Kuala Lumpur, via an armbar submission in the first round.

Sobral faced Combat Sambo Russia National Champion Mikhail Zayats on 17 January 2013 at Bellator 85.

[28] Chael Sonnen and Renato Sobral fought to a draw in a trilogy fight at Metamoris 6 in a submission grappling match.

[citation needed] Sobral was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu third degree black belt in August 2017 from Roberto "Gordo" Correa.