Babalu releases UFC 74 statement on fallout from David Heath incident

BABALU vs JARDINE to the DEATH!!!

Sorry Babby,

You’re finished. You CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T ever hold a submission past more than a second or two of a tap.

You could say sorry a million times but you need to banned to set an example to other idiots out there trying to kill or severely injure another man, rather than just trying to win a competition.

You fight to win, not to try to put someone in a hospital. Yeah you can have an attitude you’re going to hurt him, but attacking a man who has given up and trying to hurt him when he is already finished is

RETARDED.

It was fun having you here why you lasted, Chuck worked you twice and Chuck isn’t really a top 5 fighter at 205 anymore.

Just like anyone who gets caught with steroids, Vick and dog fighting, or a brawl during an NBA game, they’re only sorry they got caught. They’re sorry they have to face the consequences of their actions. Babalu is sorry he lost money that supports his family. And now he’s back peddling and making excuses. Screw him.

if you watch close his eyes were closed

It’s funny how sorry we become when we get fired and loose our pay. I personally like Babalu as a fighter but he knew what he was doing. I witnessed Gomi in a similar fight in pride hold a choke too long so this can happen to the best. I think he should receive a suspension and be welcomed back there shortly after.

come on…let him back – n next time dont put him against a soft boy

BRING BABALU BACK!

your my boy Babalu. Getting choked out ain’t that bad

I whole heartedly agreed with any punishment he incurred but I so adore Babalu that I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt after this apology. I’m not sure it’s completely genuine but I also keep remembering when he tried to tap out Big John. He does have a history of delayed reaction.

I’m not sure whether or not Babalu intentionally held the choke or not, but I am sure of one thing…. David Heath incurred no injury from it. Had this been an arm bar and he had injured Heath severely, then the punishment fits the crime, but it wasn’t. He held a choke too long causing his opponent to lose conciousness for a moment, but how many times have we seen a fighter strike a grounded oppponent that is knocked out… Tim Silvia vs. Gan McGee comes to mind. Sylvia scored a blow that nearly rendered McGee unconcious then proceeded to strike hime several times before the referee stopped the bout. Things of this nature happen all the time. I know that it looks bad on the tape, but come on… No harm, no foul.

Sorry Babby,

You’re finished. You CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T ever hold a submission past more than a second or two of a tap.

You could say sorry a million times but you need to banned to set an example to other idiots out there trying to kill or severely injure another man, rather than just trying to win a competition.

You fight to win, not to try to put someone in a hospital. Yeah you can have an attitude you’re going to hurt him, but attacking a man who has given up and trying to hurt him when he is already finished is

RETARDED.

It was fun having you here why you lasted, Chuck worked you twice and Chuck isn’t really a top 5 fighter at 205 anymore.

Dude so many people have held chokes after the ref tells them to let go. And BJ Penn vs Pulver is only one of several other examples of this happening. MMA is intense competition. Two guys are pouring everything they have into the Octagon (Heath literally). For you to pretend like you know what Babalu’s intentions were is arrogant and insane. I think a lot of people are too defensive of MMA. There are so few people trying to ban it and its not going to be banned until someone is actually killed. And even then, it may not happen.

Calm down. This isnt a big deal. Babalu will be back in a couple of years.

i believe you babalu, i hope you fight for the ufc again
what i really don’t like about this is that dana white treat the fighters like they were soldier toys.
what Sherk did was 100 times worse, and what about penn holding the choke to pulver, diego sanchez Mariguana, Franca, Bonnar, etc.

This is what happens when only one guy has all the power and he decide who deserve a second chance.

And BTW i think holding on to the fighters bonuses is worse than holding 3 more seconds to a choke

I enjoy b-ing doped out sometimes.

if you watch close his eyes were closed

What does his eyes being closed have to do with this? Heath tapped Babalu’s body several times along with Mazzagatti trying to seperate him. You don’t have to have your eyes open to feel a tap or to feel the ref trying to seperate them.

Its just getting old now. He will be back. How many times have we seen a choke being held. Yeah Heath got choked out big deal. The punishment doesnt fit the crime. Its a combat sport and slot of times fighters get choked out without tapping and no one makes a huge deal out of it. Yeah Heath tapped then went to sleep fine Sobral suspend him then let him come back.

babalu’s english is poor, so maybe you can argue that he really didnt mean what he said at the post fight when he said heath got what he deserved…

I didn’t think this incident would blow up like it has, but now that it has—I think Babs is finished in the UFC. They aren’t going to wait awhile and then invite him back next year. Zuffa could have merely delayed giving him another fight to teach him a lesson. They could have even told him to get a couple of wins in minor shows as a condition to coming back to a UFC card. They’ve done that with other fighters who had issues. Releasing Babalu publicly like that puts an air of finality to it. He won’t be back in the UFC, and he’s damaged goods in any other MMA org., as well.

It’s a tough call on whether or not he held the choke intentionally. You can only believe what Babalu says. I’m sure he wasn’t tring to kill the guy, but it was held on for a bit long. He should have noticed the ref trying to pull him off. I don’t think it was that bad. I would like to see him just suspended and fined, not released of his contract. Hopefully he’ll be back. I guess for now it will be fun seeing him fight and dominate in the IFL.

Babalu is the man. I’m sure anyone at anytime can do what he did if we were in fight mode.

What is worse, holding a choke for too long or doing steroids?

By Dana’s actions, holding a choke is worse and it will cost you $25k plus the termination of your contract.
Do steroids and only get a $2500 fine and a year suspension.

What a joke!

i think it is wrong that babalu was relesed, because he is basically the first person to ever really be punished for something like this. martin kampmann held his for longer, bj held onto jens for a while, shit shamrock used to be known for breaking peoples legs on purpose, and that is just to name a few. this is not a new offense and i think it is rediculous to start the punishment now just because joe rogan made a few comments during the fight.

What is worse, holding a choke for too long or doing steroids?

By Dana’s actions, holding a choke is worse and it will cost you $25k plus the termination of your contract.
Do steroids and only get a $2500 fine and a year suspension.

What a joke!

Dana didn’t fine the 25K. NSAC did. So Dana terminating your contract is worse than a $2500 fine.

Don’t you remember the recent mug shot for punching a
bouncer or something like that? I thought Dana White
was going to keep him from fighting in this
fight because of that. Then he goes and does this and
Dana White has to catch sh*t for it! I don’t blame Dana.
Everyone knows that Dana is trying to give the sport a
clean image. Babalu looked like he self-destructed on
purpose to me. He should have been walking on egg shells!
Especially since he had been losing lately.

Dana didn’t fine the 25K. NSAC did. So Dana terminating your contract is worse than a $2500 fine.

Hey Garret, a one-year suspension amounts to a greater loss in FOREGONE EARNINGS.

Jason, let it go mate – to emotional. He was simply teaching us all a great lesson in ’don’t do anything unless you do it 100%, always finish what you start’ :)

Babalu will be back, no doubt about it. He is a huge draw card, and when he learns to take the strikers to the ground more often he will once again be a contender for the belt.

Very interesting comparisons with steriods too. Use of roids p*sses me off more than anything else in the sport.

Right, a one year suspension is worth more than $2500. Also, in retrospect, the $2500 and one year suspension is also NSAC’s call, not Dana’s.

I saw my first UFC bouts last Sat. night at the Mandolin..
I can say without a doubt it was the most exciting sport I have ever watched….Hooray I have found a sport at the age of 64 and a grandmother that I really am interested in.

DON’T MISS THIS, CHECK IT OUT – BAS RUTTEN INTERVIEWING RANDY COUTURE AND DAN HENERSON IN TRAINING – ALSO FEATURES RAMPAGE JACKSON AND SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO CLICK TO SEE INTERVIEW WITH FORREST GRIFFIN TALKING ABOUT FIGHTING “SHOGUN” RUA – DON’T MISS THIS!!! http://www.gofish.com/mma/home.gfp

Sorry Babby,

You’re finished. You CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T ever hold a submission past more than a second or two of a tap.

You could say sorry a million times but you need to banned to set an example to other idiots out there trying to kill or severely injure another man, rather than just trying to win a competition.

You fight to win, not to try to put someone in a hospital. Yeah you can have an attitude you’re going to hurt him, but attacking a man who has given up and trying to hurt him when he is already finished is

RETARDED.

It was fun having you here why you lasted, Chuck worked you twice and Chuck isn’t really a top 5 fighter at 205 anymore.

Can u please tell me what 5 205ers that are better than Chuck? I mean Rampage clearly has his number you could argue Shogun is better and if u wanna say Wandelei or Hendo could beat him we will found out shortly but not top 5 give me a break.

What does his eyes being closed have to do with this? Heath tapped Babalu’s body several times along with Mazzagatti trying to seperate him. You don’t have to have your eyes open to feel a tap or to feel the ref trying to seperate them.

To Jason I agree with every thing you said except that Chuck is not a top 5 fighter. He got caught, I think we need to give him a couple of fights to redeem him self before we write him off. I don’t know who in the 205es is way better. He figured Randy out after the first fight and there isn’t a 205er out there besides Chuck that would be a heavy favorite to beat him.

Hey Garret, a one-year suspension amounts to a greater loss in FOREGONE EARNINGS.

Yes the Nevada State Athletic Commission Fines him and it was not Dana. Dana did terminate his contract before NSAC had their hearing….why has he not acted on Sherk before the hearing. Just seems like he has a double standard.

Anybody know the IXFA results from last night?

I don’t know what he was thinking.It’s too bad.I enjoyed watching him in the UFC.

The choke wasn’t even that bad, man. I wonder if Heath learned his lesson? Has he made any public comments or accepted Renato’s apology? The beat down before the choke looked more damaging.

Dana White stated he was looking to dump Renato before this incident anyway. Live and learn.

Good point Jo. Or maybe it’s because he’s so tight with Sherk.

what the hell happaned to him? looks like he’s drunk or had a hangover from last night? propably was angry and ashamed of himself, poor babalu ain’t never gonna be ufc once more again.

Babalu is my all time favorite fighter, i hope Dana give hm another chance, whats he going to do when Babalu is on another 10 fight win streak and all the competition in the 205 division is washed up. I believe Babalus apology is sincere hes actually a really good guy, very laid back, his family comes first.

Did Heath make a comment?

LoL howcome so many people are saying the punishment doesn’t fit the crime? Babalu messed up by saying he did it on purpose, and saying he had to teach Heath a lesson in respect. If he had just said he made a mistake, and didn;t mean to completely choke Heath out from the beginning their would have been no trouble for Babalu…at worste a small slap on the hand. Kicking Babalu’s clown ass out of the UFC is a great decision on Dana White;s part. The sport would probably survive if someone was killed in the ring by accident at this point, but why allow fighters like Babalu to feed their ego, and make it happen sooner rather than later. Also, I know a guillotine choke stops blood and oxygen to your brain causeing you to pass out, but how long can that blood be stopped before someone is seriously injured…like brain damage, or death?

I actually wondered if Babalu’s comments at the post-fight were not really intended to apply to just the choke. English is not Babalu’s native language and, while he’s proficient enough to communicate, he easily could have made the comments about Heath deserving it and teaching Heath respect, but just been talking generally about the total ass-whipping he just gave Heath. If Babalu didn’t understand that Rogan was asking why he kept the choke on, he might have talked a little trash b/c he beat some ass, then inadvertently made everyone think he intentionally held the choke.

Even if he did mean to hold the choke, the punishment is waaay out of proportion to the offense.

Sorry Babby,

You’re finished. You CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T CAN’T ever hold a submission past more than a second or two of a tap.

You could say sorry a million times but you need to banned to set an example to other idiots out there trying to kill or severely injure another man, rather than just trying to win a competition.

You fight to win, not to try to put someone in a hospital. Yeah you can have an attitude you’re going to hurt him, but attacking a man who has given up and trying to hurt him when he is already finished is

RETARDED.

It was fun having you here why you lasted, Chuck worked you twice and Chuck isn’t really a top 5 fighter at 205 anymore.

Chuck loses one fight, and now he’s not a top five fighter?

What is worse, holding a choke for too long or doing steroids?

By Dana’s actions, holding a choke is worse and it will cost you $25k plus the termination of your contract.
Do steroids and only get a $2500 fine and a year suspension.

What a joke!

I whole heartedly agree with you. And in Sherks case he still has a belt, correct? So he could win using steroids and keep a belt? This is the problem with fan favs. I love BJ Penn and the last thing I would want is to have him out of the UFC but he blatantly held the choke long, then admitted to it, and laughed basically. Holy crap if that is not the same, if not worse considering he laughed about it. So Babalu all amped after fighting, adrenalin coursing thorough his veins talked some shit after he put somoeone out, how many times does that happen. Shit I have done it not realizing aferwards how long it took to let go of a hold. Man it is a bloodsport, A fight with extemely limited rules, yes there is a disicpline behind it and yes the fighters saftey comes first but without a double standard hopefully. You have two men entering a cage who have been training nonstop the last 3 months(ie. pt fighters) or all year like Babalu does, and to let it all hang out, all your training boils down to one 15 minute spotligh in a year, you are damn right you are going to talk siht after a completely dominating performance. I dunno but all of you that think he should be gone should all be asking for BJ Penns head as well, and I know there have been others just off hand at this time in the am can not think of others…

It’s a tough call on whether or not he held the choke intentionally. You can only believe what Babalu says. I’m sure he wasn’t tring to kill the guy, but it was held on for a bit long. He should have noticed the ref trying to pull him off. I don’t think it was that bad. I would like to see him just suspended and fined, not released of his contract. Hopefully he’ll be back. I guess for now it will be fun seeing him fight and dominate in the IFL.

Babalu said ‘he deserved it’ shortly after the fight so he was fully aware of what he did and proud of it. I think the $25K fine and some sort of suspension are adequate. People have mentioned severity of the foul. I guess that has to be determined on a case by case basis. In this situation, true, Heath didn’t suffer any permanent damage so the suspension should match that. I don’t think he should be outright banned forever. Look at Dana White pathetically hugging Sherk’s nuts- not wanting to take his title. Steroids use should receive a harsh suspension. That is totally premeditated versus holding a choke that occurs in the cage when guys are beating the crap out of each other.

Dana didn’t fine the 25K. NSAC did. So Dana terminating your contract is worse than a $2500 fine.

that hold didnt last that long. when you’re in a gruelling match like that, its not that hard to miss your opponent’s tap. and besides, we all know that a choke would only do one thing, put someone to sleep. if it was an arm bar or kimura, then i recommend for babalu to be sent to jail. but a choke, cmmon man…

Just watched the video, hell I thought that martin Kampman held the choke on longer than that.

Too severe of a punishment in my opinion. Nsac fined him 2,500, Dana with held his winning bonus, and terminated his contract, for that? Thats a crazy suspension. I am all about, the integrity of the sport, but the punishment does not fit the crime. $2,500 plus the winning bonus is an excessive punishment for a fighter who is trying to make a living in a sport where the athletes r underpaid to begin with.

Kampman did hold the choke longer! Its not fair that Babalu is made an example of.

I wanna c these type punishments for people using steroids. Letting a fighter in a cage roided up is more dangerous than holding a choke for 2 seconds. I’d like to c Dana bring the hammer down on steroid violators not Babalu.. This is crap!

I dont even care too much about Babalu…. but he got a raw deal!

In my oppinion the $2,500 fine is enough! maybe suspend him for 6 months…. But to destroy the way a fighters earns a living for holding a choke for 2 seconds longer is bs.

I agree with dana whites decision, the ONLY reason babalu is “sorry” is because he got in deep do do over his actions, he deserved what he got, I just wish the ufc was more consistent. But they needed to start somewhere and unfortunately for babalu he has to be the sacrificial lamb, Penn’s hold against jens was questionable but the crowd was so happy he won they didn’t care plus it was maybe a second or two longer not 3 to 4 seconds. I personally don’t like Heath and think he’s an annoying arse but you HAVE listen to the ref and when he says stop it means stop. I’m glad he got crap but at the same time they should give ALL fighters crap when they disobey the ref and be consistent.

“you shit with me..i shit with you”

                       - babalus’ last words

Terminate BJ Penns contract after all the shit with Pulver and he still did that, there is no doubt that BJs was intentional. So why not terminate his contract and take away Babalus.

First off those words never came out of Babalu’s mouth. He mind as well face it the contract is gone. White said he could bring him back oneday

they should,ve suspended bowling hed penn for holding his choke on lil evil for the same thing

You guys are making too much of the ufc releasing him from his contract and it being worse than a one year suspension. I have no doubt after White thinks about it he’ll resign babalu and he’ll be fighting again within 6 months. Dana white frequently goes back on what he says and Babalu might convince him of his innocence and give babalu a conditional contract.

where can I watch the babalu fight?

First off those words never came out of Babalu’s mouth. He mind as well face it the contract is gone. White said he could bring him back oneday

  Agreed, I really doubt those are babalu’s words, most likely some crafty lawyer no doubt.

Too severe of a punishment in my opinion. Nsac fined him 2,500, Dana with held his winning bonus, and terminated his contract, for that? Thats a crazy suspension. I am all about, the integrity of the sport, but the punishment does not fit the crime. $2,500 plus the winning bonus is an excessive punishment for a fighter who is trying to make a living in a sport where the athletes r underpaid to begin with.

Kampman did hold the choke longer! Its not fair that Babalu is made an example of.

I wanna c these type punishments for people using steroids. Letting a fighter in a cage roided up is more dangerous than holding a choke for 2 seconds. I’d like to c Dana bring the hammer down on steroid violators not Babalu.. This is crap!

I dont even care too much about Babalu…. but he got a raw deal!

In my oppinion the $2,500 fine is enough! maybe suspend him for 6 months…. But to destroy the way a fighters earns a living for holding a choke for 2 seconds longer is bs.

..It’s F’d up..we are all human..and F’ up at times.. I feel the UFC is just using Babalu as a scape goat..Fine him his bonus pay.. suspend him like for a year..community service..or something..to ban him for life is extreme..I guess this is ultimate fightimg..ultimate penalites..but not for Roids..nah..It’s a o.K to look like " COMMANDO " smash some1’s brains..to mash potatoes..pissing out ultra decaNitro piss.

Don’t you remember the recent mug shot for punching a
bouncer or something like that? I thought Dana White
was going to keep him from fighting in this
fight because of that. Then he goes and does this and
Dana White has to catch sh*t for it! I don’t blame Dana.
Everyone knows that Dana is trying to give the sport a
clean image. Babalu looked like he self-destructed on
purpose to me. He should have been walking on egg shells!
Especially since he had been losing lately.

Dana White is a greedy chode,He is killing this sport!

that wasnt that bad. watch all the old royce gracie fights and other people they hold till the ref breaks them up. it was the refs fault.

It is a SACRED RULE. When a man taps… IT’S OVER. No ifs, ands or buts. This guy has no honor.

When you get in that ring you have to trust that the other fighter will honor that. I don’t give a rats ass what Heath SAID. Those are just words. In the ring, you honor the sport and you live by the rules. The rules that you yourself trust your other opponents to honor if you go out, or if you tap.

And I’m sorry, but I saw the video and you’ll never convince me he didn’t feel Heath tapping or the ref yanking on his arm for 3 seconds.

This guy is a disgrace. he hurt the sport. he disgraced the sport. Thus, the sport must disgrace him. Kick him out, 2 years.

I’ve said if before and i’ll say it again. Alot of fighters have done this but only Sobral gets screwed.

He lost two fights back to back including a fight against a guy he should have beat (Lambert). He got arrested about a month prior to 74 and that got the UFC’s attention and gave bad publicity to the name. He then did the choke at 74. The UFC was just waiting for him to slip so they could pounce on him for any reason and get him out.

That’s why BJ and Gracie were never affected. BJ’s name is just too good for the league. Great personality, just served as a coach on TUF and is in the lightweight title picture (especially with Sherk’s pending case).

As for Gracie, just take a look at who helped to start the UFC back in 1993, Rorian Gracie, Royce’s older brother. Therefore, Royce was untouchable. Plus, don’t forget, we’re talking about an era where there were no weight classes and gloves, etc. etc. No one cared that a choke was applied for two extra seconds back then because the fight itself almost had no rules. Two completely different era’s that cannot be compared.

BABALUS A MORON!! If he had just not said anything about repsect r he deserved it, none of this would be happening. Its not like Mazzagatti had to KO him to get him to release the choke. Babalu could have easily just said i was making sure i had the win. Ego gets in the way once again.

yep, everyone “picking” on a great fighter who is a “bad-boy” out of the ring ~ imo we need charecters like that in our sport, not to mention he is super exciting to watch fight when he’s on his game.

FREE BABALU!!!

we should focus on the guys using illegal supplements and kick their asses out permanently (roid shark, franca, boner) not guy s who get caught up in the heat of battle and hang on for a couple extra seconds.

David Heath incurred no injury from it. Had this been an arm bar and he had injured Heath severely, then the punishment fits the crime, but it wasn’t.

Arms heal. A choke hold cuts off oxygen to the brain that all carbon-based life forms need to live. Oxygen deprivation can have much more severe and long-term ramifications than a couple months in a cast.

I hope he gets an awesome contract from another organization. UFC… who cares. I am not loyal to UFC am loyal to the MMA sport. They are in control right now, but it won’t be long till someone changes that.

Just watched it on YouTube.

Didn’t look that bad, definitely not worse than Penn-Pulver.

You can’t fault a fighter for not letting go when a fighter taps, because they usually have to wait for the ref to acknowledge it as a win, since we’ve seen shady fighters try to deny a tap.

However, if you’re a pro MMA fighter it’s your job to know that you’re choking someone and to pay attention to the ref and wait for him to end it. No excuse for that.

No point arguing the penalty/fit the crime stuff.

Babalu hasn’t beaten any real big name fighter except for Rua and Horn. So who cares, no big loss as far as I’m concerned.

I think he’s got emotional issues cause he knows he’s washed up as far as winning a title goes. Hence, the legal issues and this current issue.

EXTRA EXTRA - babalu wins by fatality !!!

Give this guy a break he’s a good fighter top ten.
FREE BABALU

I wanted to see Babalu Shogun 2 really bad, i think Babalu has a good Chance against Shogun because there both so aggressive id pay 100.00s for a paper view to see it!

I don’t think Dana or anyone from the UFC “WANT” to get rid of Babalu but they can’t be a silly organization. When incidents happen they need to react like a responsible organization. You can’t say “Awwwwww it’s just Babalu don’t worry about it.” He is one fighter(a great fighter but just one) and this is a whole organization. For UFC to continue to break through to the mainstream & gain acceptance in new states & provences we need to keep it clean. It’s hard to lose great fighters but we’ll gain much more in the future.

HE needs a minimum long term suspension. I like Babalu & want to see him back but he can’t get it easy.

I’m not sure whether or not Babalu intentionally held the choke or not,

Uuhhh, in the post fight interview he admitted to holding on to teach him respect.

Man, Babalu is and always will be my favorite fighter. It pains me to no end to see him out of the UFC. They say that “time heals all wounds” I hope that it holds true in this case also and he will be back in the UFC one day. If not I wish him the best wherever he ends up.

Good call Dana White, As a ufc and mma fan lost lots of respect for Babalu. This kinda fighter needs to be Cleaning the mat after real fighters these kind of actions need to be stoped befor someone gets hurt in the ring and we lose mma all togather

Somehow, I feel that Babalu’s response is not entirely genuine. Somehow, I also feel that Babalu isn’t quite articulate enough to draft an apology like that. The sad thing is, Babalu had already exacted his vengeance on Heath by absolutely dominating him in the ring. What more was necessary?

Go back and watch some of Royce Gracies fights. When he fought Gerard Gordeau, he held onto it much longer then Babalu did, and in a latter interview he said it was punishment for biting him. Gordeau tapped with both hands sepratley and then with both hands at the same time even after the ref tried to pull him off. Also in UFC 2 watch when he fought Jason Delucia, he held onto his armbar long after Jason tapped. Stopping after someone tapped and the ref intervened was one of the ONLY rules in early UFC and it still wasn’t followed. A deduction or a suspension would have been acceptable, but I think Dana took it a bit far.

For a first time offence a fighter should only be suspended for say 12 months, 2nd time 5 years, 3rd time for life.

Give me a Break! This IS UFC not ballet! People need to stop acting like babies.