Renato Sobral did his first professional MMA match in 1997 and ended his career with excellent 37 victories and 11 defeats. Last year at Bellator he put on the gloves for the last time and was defeated by Jacob Noe from the US. In the meanwhile, he competed under the banner of UFC, the world's top MMA organization, where he had his first match in 2002 against Maurice Smith. His last fight in the UFC was the one against David Heth in 2007.

He was released from the UFC due to his pigheadedness and since he refused to release his opponent from triangle arm choke. In 2006 he got a chance to become the UFC light heavyweight champion, but was defeated by Chuck Liddell. He had more success in Strikeforce, at least when it comes to champion titles. In 2008 he thus became a Strikeforce champion after defeating Bobby Southworth. He competed under the banner of numerous top promotions such as previously mentioned UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator as well as Rings, IFC, Cage Rage, Affliction, Jungle Fight and ONE FC.

Fedor Emelianenko, Kevin Rendleman, Mauricio Shogun Rua, Chael Sonnen, Travis Wiuff, Cyrille Diabate, Robbie Lawler, Dan Hendeson and Jeremy Horn are merely some of the big names he fought and defeated.

There is no doubt Renato Sobral is a legendary fighter who left his mark in MMA.

In an exclusive interview for Fight Site, Renato Sobral looked back at his rich career, told us why he quit professional fighting, but also hinted he would like to fight again if given the chance. We met Babalu in beautiful Italian Treviso on the set for Grips commercial with Croatian fighter Igor Pokrajac as well as talented British fighter Michael Page.

What are you doing here in Italy?

"Right now I am here to make a commercial, but besides that, I've been doing a couple of seminars around Italy and this evening I am to teach in Treviso at a BJJ seminar."

Last year you quit professional fighting, but you're still in good shape.

"I practice every day. Combat sports are my life so it's logical I still train every day. I'm in good shape although I have a couple of old injuries and they were one of the reasons I quit fighting professionally."

You are busy with seminars and commercials. What else do you do nowadays?

"I have my own school/gym in California. When I don't travel the world, I train my students and, of course, I train myself. I still compete at BJJ competitions. A couple of days ago I did a BJJ "no gi" match against Dean Lister at Metamoris 4 event."

Why did you quit fighting professionally? Having in mind your age and current trend, you could have been fighting for a few more years.

"My body said enough. I had too many matches, too many wars and too many injuries. I simply wasn’t able to be at the top level physically and to be at the top level is essential if you want to fight at world's top promotions."

What exactly did you have problems with?

"With many things I still have problem today, that is, with chronic injuries. I have problems with my back right now. However, I believe my biggest problem lies in the fact that my body and my head became less tolerant to punches. While I was young, you could punch me as many times as you liked, I would stay on my feet. In the last couple of years I had problems even with minor punches. I think that was a sign to stop."

Do you miss being an active sportsman?

"Of course. I already mentioned I still compete at BJJ tournaments."

Do you follow European MMA promotions? For example, FFC that already became big in the region and even wider.

"Guys showed me a couple of YouTube videos while I was here, in Italy, since some of the fighters sponsored by Grips fought there. I saw there are some famous names in FFC such as Ricco Rodriguez, Eddie Sanchez, Dion Staring and Paul Daley. The production is at the top level and it reminds me of old Pride days and I especially like the Pride rules. Watching the videos I wanted to go back to the old days, go back into the ring and fight. I would definitely like to do a match in FFC."

Does that mean you're thinking about the comeback?

"At the moment I have a couple of offers from Japan. I still feel this desire to return to the ring, because you cannot kill that feeling. When I saw FFC tournaments, I wanted to fight immediately. If I get a good offer, I'm ready to fight and I'm ready to prepare for the match."

Whom would you like to fight at FFC?

"Ricco Rodriguez would be a good choice. We're of similar age and we both fight in UFC."

You cordially greeted Igor Pokrajac…

"I've known Igor for a couple of years since we both trained together in California at Kings MMA gym. Back then he was preparing for the match with Bonnar while I was preparing to fight Henderson. We also have some mutual friends like Fabricio Werdum. Fabricio lived in Zagreb for a couple of years with Igor while they were members of Cro Cop team. Igor is a really good guy and a great fighter."

What do you know about Croatia and about Croatian fighters?

"I know you have rich tradition when it comes to combat sports. Cro Cop is a legend but you have many other successful fighters. If I am to fight in FFC, I will come to Croatia a couple of weeks prior to the match to prepare there and to adapt to the time difference. They say Croatia is a beautiful country and I would like to go there this summer at least for vacations."

Marko Petrak