Preview: Sylvia Defends Against Couture at UFC 68
Lambert vs. Sobral
Mar 2, 2007
Jason
Lambert (Pictures) vs. Renato Sobral (Pictures)
Jason "The Punisher" Lambert trains out of the North County Fight Club, and is the former WEC light heavyweight champion and held both the Gladiator Challenge heavyweight and light heavyweight championships, as well. He carries a record of 22-6 in MMA.
Jason got his first big exposure at the end of 2001 when he had the
opportunity to fight Brazilian fighting legend and UFC 8 tournament
champion Marco Ruas
(Pictures). Although Ruas submitted
Lambert via heel hook in under a minute, he went on to take part in
the huge Super Brawl 24 heavyweight tournament. Lambert won his
first two fights before being pounded by current UFC heavyweight
champ Tim Sylvia
(Pictures). Wesley "Cabbage" Correira
KO'd Lambert in Super Brawl as well but "The Punisher" stayed
focused and went 4-1 in 2003.
Lambert entered the UFC last March at UFC 58 where he submitted Canadian Rob MacDonald (Pictures) and stopped his next 2 opponents, Brandon Lee Hinkle and Terry Martin (Pictures), with strikes. He re-enters the octagon off his first loss in three years when he was KO'd by TUF 2 contract winner Rashad Evans (Pictures).
Sobral is a former Ruas Vale Tudo fighter and currently trains with the Gracie Barra Combat Team with Marcio Cruz (Pictures) and a virtual army of top Brazilian fighters. Lately he has been training with Carlos Gracie Jr. and at the Cuban School of Wrestling. "Babalu" sports a 27-6 record in MMA.
Sobral started fighting in Vale Tudo events in Brazil. He defeated Carlson Gracie Team member Fernando Cerchiari in the IVC 8 event and won the Circuito Brasileiro de Vale Tudo 5 eight-man tournament, beating PRIDE veteran Pedro Otavio among others. Much of Sobral's fighting history has taken place in RINGS (where strikes to the head of grounded opponents were prohibited), where he faced some of the event's best including PRIDE champions Dan Henderson (Pictures) and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures).
His most impressive MMA accomplishment came in 2003 when he captured the IFC Global Domination eight-man tournament championship defeating three opponents in one night. This included a rare submission defeat of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and decision wins over UFC veterans Trevor Prangley (Pictures) and Jeremy Horn (Pictures).
In the Octagon, he debuted at UFC 28 against Maurice Smith (Pictures) and won a decision over the former heavyweight champion. He is 5-3 under the UFC banner and unfortunately is best known for his dramatic KO losses to current UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell (Pictures).
These two wrestlers are fairly evenly matched but the level of competition faced is dramatically different. In my opinion Lambert has only faced top competition a handful of times. The move down in weight in 2003 was a smart one and his takedown defense and striking have shown real improvement as well. With Sobral, he's gone through a major transformation since dropping to light heavyweight and switching camps.
He's always been a good wrestler but his kicks are nasty and his submission skills have taken center stage as an opponent's biggest concern. Lambert's best game plan is to use his wrestling to Sobral's back and try and work the choke from there. He also strikes well from the mount but "Babalu" has superior ground skills. I look for Sobral to win by submission.
Jason "The Punisher" Lambert trains out of the North County Fight Club, and is the former WEC light heavyweight champion and held both the Gladiator Challenge heavyweight and light heavyweight championships, as well. He carries a record of 22-6 in MMA.
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Lambert entered the UFC last March at UFC 58 where he submitted Canadian Rob MacDonald (Pictures) and stopped his next 2 opponents, Brandon Lee Hinkle and Terry Martin (Pictures), with strikes. He re-enters the octagon off his first loss in three years when he was KO'd by TUF 2 contract winner Rashad Evans (Pictures).
Renato Sobral (Pictures) is a former Brazilian national
wrestling team member, a RINGS King of Kings 1999 finalist and the
IFC Global Domination eight-man tournament champion.
Sobral is a former Ruas Vale Tudo fighter and currently trains with the Gracie Barra Combat Team with Marcio Cruz (Pictures) and a virtual army of top Brazilian fighters. Lately he has been training with Carlos Gracie Jr. and at the Cuban School of Wrestling. "Babalu" sports a 27-6 record in MMA.
Sobral started fighting in Vale Tudo events in Brazil. He defeated Carlson Gracie Team member Fernando Cerchiari in the IVC 8 event and won the Circuito Brasileiro de Vale Tudo 5 eight-man tournament, beating PRIDE veteran Pedro Otavio among others. Much of Sobral's fighting history has taken place in RINGS (where strikes to the head of grounded opponents were prohibited), where he faced some of the event's best including PRIDE champions Dan Henderson (Pictures) and Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures).
His most impressive MMA accomplishment came in 2003 when he captured the IFC Global Domination eight-man tournament championship defeating three opponents in one night. This included a rare submission defeat of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and decision wins over UFC veterans Trevor Prangley (Pictures) and Jeremy Horn (Pictures).
In the Octagon, he debuted at UFC 28 against Maurice Smith (Pictures) and won a decision over the former heavyweight champion. He is 5-3 under the UFC banner and unfortunately is best known for his dramatic KO losses to current UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell (Pictures).
These two wrestlers are fairly evenly matched but the level of competition faced is dramatically different. In my opinion Lambert has only faced top competition a handful of times. The move down in weight in 2003 was a smart one and his takedown defense and striking have shown real improvement as well. With Sobral, he's gone through a major transformation since dropping to light heavyweight and switching camps.
He's always been a good wrestler but his kicks are nasty and his submission skills have taken center stage as an opponent's biggest concern. Lambert's best game plan is to use his wrestling to Sobral's back and try and work the choke from there. He also strikes well from the mount but "Babalu" has superior ground skills. I look for Sobral to win by submission.
