Renato “Babalu” Sobral will defend his light heavyweight title against
Gegard Mousasi at Strikeforce “Carano vs. Cyborg” on Aug. 15 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
The bout was originally scheduled for Affliction’s “Trilogy” event on Aug. 1 in Anaheim, Calif. Affliction announced the cancellation of its third event Friday, and signed a brand sponsorship deal with the UFC instead. The cancelled event left 22 fighters in limbo, including the world’s No. 1 heavyweight,
Fedor Emelianenko.
Sobral (35-8) submitted
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via a second-round brabo choke at Affliction’s final event on Jan. 24.
Mousasi (25-2-1), a former Dream middleweight champion, will make his U.S. debut against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. The 23-year-old Armenian-born fighter submitted
Mark Hunt with a first-round armbar at Dream 9 on May 26.
The title bout will join two others on Strikeforce's Aug. 15 card. In the main event,
Gina Carano and
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vie for the first-ever Strikeforce 145-pound women's championship. Lightweight champion
Josh Thomson will also tangle with interim champion
Gilbert Melendez in a rematch of their highly regarded June 2008 tilt.