Tag: Instinct MMA

Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral to Face Canadian Slugger Steve Bosse at Instinct 4 in May in Quebec


(This is a make or break fight. The winner will be the fans.)

Up-and-coming Quebec light heavyweight Steve Bosse will face the toughest test of his career in May when he takes on former Strikeforce 205-pound champ Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Instinct 4: Babalu vs. Bosse in May.

Instinct MMA preent Stephane Patry, who was the founder of Quebec’s most successful promotion, TKO,  announced the bout today via press release. Patry also stated that a date and a venue for the show have yet to be locked down, but should be finalized in the coming days.


(This is a make or break fight. The winner will be the fans.)

Up-and-coming Quebec light heavyweight Steve Bosse will face the toughest test of his career in May when he takes on former Strikeforce 205-pound champ Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Instinct 4: Babalu vs. Bosse in May.

Instinct MMA preent Stephane Patry, who was the founder of Quebec’s most successful promotion, TKO,  announced the bout today via press release. Patry also stated that a date and a venue for the show have yet to be locked down, but should be finalized in the coming days.

Former hockey enforcer Bosse (9-1) hasn’t fought since October after sustaining a broken hand in his hisidghlight reel knockout win over Houston Alexander at the promotion’s inaugural event. A fan-favorite in his home province, “The Boss” holds wins over UFC vets Marvin Eastman and Wes Sims as well. The 30-year-old trains out of Tristar under Firas Zahabi.

5-2 in his seven fights since being released by the UFC for failing to relinquish a choke on David Heath at UFC 74 in 2007, Sobral (36-9) hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: St. Louis in December 2010. He was rumored to be in talks with Bellator, but nothing came out of the negotiations. The 36-year-old signed a contract with OneFC in December, but the Singapore-based promotion has yet to announce when he will debut under its banner. In the meantime, he has been helping friend Wanderlei Silva coach on the inaugural season of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil.” He will be cornered by Kings MMA training partner Fabricio Werdum for the bout.

According to Patry, other notable fights are in the works for the spring event.

“A lot depends on the outcomes of certain fights at Instinct 3 on March 31 in Sherbrooke,” explains Patry. “However, I can say that we are talking to some big name international fighters in order to give fans the fights they want to see: their favorites taking on the world elite.”

GIF Party: Houston Alexander Gets Put to Bed By Ex-Hockey Enforcer Steve Bosse

Video courtest of allthebestfights.com.

Last night’s MFC 31 wasn’t the only MMA card our friends north of the border were treated to. Astute readers may have also remembered that Instinct MMA made its promotional debut in Quebec, Canada last night as well. The night’s main event pitted ex-hockey enforcer Steve Bosse against UFC veteran Houston Alexander. With a combined fourteen knockouts in twenty victories for the pair, you probably guessed that someone was going to get knocked out. And my God did these two deliver.

GIFs are after the jump.


Video courtest of allthebestfights.com.

Last night’s MFC 31 wasn’t the only MMA card our friends north of the border were treated to. Astute readers may have also remembered that Instinct MMA made its promotional debut in Quebec, Canada last night as well. The night’s main event pitted ex-hockey enforcer Steve Bosse against UFC veteran Houston Alexander. With a combined fourteen knockouts in twenty victories for the pair, you probably guessed that someone was going to get knocked out. And my God did these two deliver.

GIFs are after the jump.

Also of note, Patrick Cote picked up a first round TKO over Crafton Wallace, as Wallace injured his leg early and was unable to continue. And since you’re so curious, Eric “Butterbean” Esch lost to 33-year-old heavyweight boxer turned MMA fighter Eric Barrak. Eric Barrack was making his MMA debut last night after racking up a 5-0 record as a professional boxer. And Barrack won by a guillotine choke in the third round. Getting choked out by a boxer making his MMA debut is probably a sign that you should be focusing on your reality television career instead of fighting at this stage in your life, homie.

Bosse vs. Alexander, Cote vs. Wallace and Butterbean vs. Barrak Announced for Instinct MMA 1 in October

Instinct Mixed Martial Arts today announced most of the main card line-up of it’s upcoming inaugural MMA event set for October 7 at the Rousseau Centre of Sports Excellence in Boisbriand, Quebec and the card is shaping up nicely.

The main event of the evening will see former UFC light heavyweight Houston Alexander take on hockey enforcer-turned-MMA-fighter Steve Bosse. In the night’s co-main event former number one UFC middleweight contender Patrick Cote will look to improve his post-Octagon record to 3-0 with a win over muay thai specialist Crafton Wallace. The third fight on the card will feature a heavyweight tilt between king of the four-rounders and  reality television  star Eric “Butterbean” Esch and undefeated 5-0 Quebec boxer Eric Barrak who will make his MMA debut that night.

Instinct Mixed Martial Arts today announced most of the main card line-up of it’s upcoming inaugural MMA event set for October 7 at the Rousseau Centre of Sports Excellence in Boisbriand, Quebec and the card is shaping up nicely.

The main event of the evening will see former UFC light heavyweight Houston Alexander take on hockey enforcer-turned-MMA-fighter Steve Bosse. In the night’s co-main event former number one UFC middleweight contender Patrick Cote will look to improve his post-Octagon record to 3-0 with a win over muay thai specialist Crafton Wallace. The third fight on the card will feature a heavyweight tilt between king of the four-rounders and  reality television  star Eric “Butterbean” Esch and undefeated 5-0 Quebec boxer Eric Barrak who will make his MMA debut that night.

It’s no surprise that the card is conspicuously short of submission specialists, considering this is the same organization that was originally called Strikebox which was started by TKO MMA founder Stephane Patry a few years back and was touted as “kickboxing with MMA gloves.” You may recall the incident back in 2009 where a riot erupted when James Thompson ignored a “gentleman’s agreement” not to take the fight to the canvas after the Quebec athletic commission refused to grant the promotion clearance for a special set of rules that would see the referee immediately stand fighters up if the fight hit the floor.

Hopefully things run more smoothly this time around for Patry, who was responsible for putting on some of the best bouts in Canadian MMA history under the UCC and TKO banners and who helped launch the careers of a number of Canadian fighters including UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Sam Stout, Chris Horodecki, Mark Hominick, David Loiseau, Jonathan Goulet and Cote among other notables.

Instinct 1
Friday, October 7, 2011
Rousseau Centre of Sports Excellence
Boisbriand, Quebec

Houston Alexander (13-6) vs. Steve Bosse (8-1)
Crafton Wallace (18-5-1) vs. Patrick Cote (15-7)
Eric “Butterbean” Esch (14-8-1) vs. Eric Barrak (0-0)
Sergej Juskevic (11-6-2) vs. Martin Grandmont (11-5)
Travis Cox (6-9-1) vs. Derek Gauthier (6-3)
Syd Barnier (3-3) vs. Dimitri Waardenburg (7-5)
Shawn Levesque (1-0) vs. Guillaume Vigneau (1-1)
Clint Kingsbury (1-0) vs. Bojan Kladnjakovic (1-1)