(Babalu’s mugshot, because why not.)

For the second time in the organization’s history, Strikeforce will host an MMA event in the posh and jiggly confines of the Playboy Mansion. According to a newly distributed press release, the fight club will return to Beverly Hills on September 20th for a ten-bout card that will be headlined by a light heavyweight title match between Strikeforce champion Bobby Southworth (who last defended his belt in a five-round snoozer with Anthony Ruiz in June) and challenger Renato “Babalu” Sobral, who recently defeated Mike Whitehead via decision at Affliction: Banned. Said Sobral: “He is the protector and I am the hunter. I am already in shape and prepared to take it from him. I want to be the new Strikeforce world champion and if I could become champion while fighting at a venue like the Playboy Mansion, that would make a good win even better.”

Also on the card is Josh “The Punk” Thomson defending his lightweight scrap against an opponent to be announced later, and a middleweight feature between highly regarded Pancrase/PRIDE/Sengoku vet Kazuo Misaki and Joe “Diesel” Riggs (whose last Strikeforce appearance didn’t go so well). And if that weren’t enough to convince you:

(“Yaaaaaaaay!” Photo courtesy of MMA Mania.)

According to SI.com, Tito Ortiz signed a deal with Affliction yesterday that will make him the highest paid fighter in MMA history, and will compete at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” card (October 11th, Las Vegas); his opponent is expected to be Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Though he wouldn’t drop specific numbers, Ortiz told SI’s Arash Markazi:

“I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other…It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There’s so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it’s all about the fighters trying to make that money. It’s going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them…They’re going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also…

I’m going to a company that’s going to take care of me, a company that’s going to respect me, a company that’s going to put me in the forefront and make me the ambassador that I’ve always been.”

Regarding Affliction’s drawing power with him on board, Ortiz was optimistic — perhaps insanely so:

“I know they want to make some money and I know they got over 100,000 pay-per-view buys on their first show and with me it’s guaranteed to be over 500,000 pay-per-view buys just by the number of fans that are going to follow me no matter where I go so they’re going to get there money’s worth just in pay-per-view no matter what.”

Considering how “special” Donald Trump thinks Tito Ortiz is, this moment was inevitable: Steve Cofield is reporting that Affliction’s second event (October 11th, Las Vegas) will feature a co-headlining bout between Tito Ortiz and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Though a 60-day non-compete clause in Ortiz’s UFC contract has prevented Affliction from dealing with the HBBB to this point, Ortiz will soon be free to re-launch his career with another fight club, and Affliction VP Tom Atencio is expected to drop the news at a press conference on August 6th.

According to Cofield, “Atencio said the biggest stumbling block for an Ortiz deal would be the financial terms.” Which is especially true given Affliction’s already-loose purse-strings — if Tim Sylvia is worth $800k, and Fedor Emelianenko is worth who knows how much, Ortiz may demand $2 million or more to face Sobral, being that he’s a proven PPV draw.

As for Babalu, he really wants the Tito fight. Oh God does he want it. As he told Tatame, “I want Tito Ortiz. I’m going after that motherfucker, I’ll fuck him (laughs).” Man, those Brazilians — always with the fucking.

Related: Check out this new MMA Rated interview with Tito Ortiz, where Ortiz talks about his future prospects, trashes Dana White some more, discusses his loss to Lyoto Machida, and refers to himself in the third person like 50 goddamned times.

Jason “The Punisher” Lambert — who takes on Wilson Gouveia on Saturday night — hasn’t fought since UFC 68 (3/3/07), but he proved himself to be a fighter of incredible heart during that match. Lambert was in big trouble during the first round, as Renato “Babalu” Sobral took his back and tried to sink in one of his infamous choke holds. But Lambert was able to defend the submission attempts and escape, and rocked Sobral with a couple of big punches when the fight went standing. Energized by his near-death, Lambert came out bashing in the second round, working Sobral over with ground-and-pound until Big John McCarthy stood the fighters up — which turned out to be the end for Babalu.