Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth has been forced to withdraw from his planned title defense against Renato “Babalu” Sobral at the promotion’s Sept. 20 return to the Playboy Mansion.
Strikeforce representative Mike Afromowitz told MMAWeekly.com that Southworth suffered a strained, or possibly torn, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The full extent of the injury is unclear, but it has made it impossible for Southworth to train.
As reports have suggested, Afromowitz confirmed that Anthony Ruiz will step in to face Sobral at the Playboy Mansion.
Despite defeating Southworth in a non-title bout this past November, Ruiz lost to Southworth in his championship bid in June. He has since bounced back with a win over Jeremy Freitag under the EliteXC banner in July.
Since his exile from the Ultimate Fighting Championship late last summer, Sobral has added two more victories to his final Octagon win. He competed most recently on the debut of Affliction’s mixed martial arts event “Banned” on July 19, defeating Xtreme Couture light heavyweight Mike Whitehead.
Afromowitz said that the promotion has not yet made a determination as to whether or not the winner of the bout would be granted a future title shot.
So NO TITLE FOR BABALU
