According to a Jan. 1 report from MMA Junkie, Renato Sobral is pleased to be taking part in Bellator MMA's season eight light heavyweight tournament.
"A tournament like this ... is a new thing for me," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I'm very excited about this because fighting in one night, you don't feel much. You go into one fight and then another fight.
The tournament opens at Bellator 85 on Jan. 17, when Sobral (37-9 MMA, 0-0 BFC) meets M-1 vet Mikhail Zayats (19-6 MMA, 0-0 BFC) in an key first-round matchup.
Unlike past tournament gigs, Sobral gets a month or so off between fights, assuming he advances. He won't have to fight several times in a single night.
"But if you fight and then you go home and cool down, the swelling goes up," Sobral said. "Then you have to go back and train again, and then there's a fight six weeks after. That's a new thing for me."
Sobral has over three dozen MMA bouts under his belt, including several fights within the friendly confines of the UFC octagon.
"Jiu-jitsu is big in tournaments – not just because you have to win, but you have to win without getting hurt too much," he said. "So you're always thinking ahead. There's a very thin line between giving a show and winning a tournament. With a tournament, you have to save yourself for the next round.
"My expectations with this (tournament) is that I need to use my experience in this. I think I'm going to have an advantage with this. I think my experience is going to help me."
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