FanHouse Mark Hunt

Since making his debut in 1997, Renato "Babalu" Sobral has seen more than a few hot prospects capture attention before fading away. His Aug. 1 Affliction: Trilogy opponent, Gegard Mousasi, is perhaps the latest in a long line of hyped young stars who has excited observers with his potential.

And while only time will tell if Mousasi meets the predictions that many are forecasting for him, Sobral can only concern himself with the present. And what he sees is a talented kid who is a bit short on experience.

"He's a Dream champion. He's not overrated; he's just one more guy," said Sobral, whose fight will air as one of the featured matches on the 9PM ET pay-per-view broadcast. "He's a young guy, upcoming. But when I started fighting for the first time, he was still on his mother's lap."

Affliction's third event, featuring a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1, should be officially announced within days, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse.

Though neither Emelianenko or Barnett has signed official bout agreements, they have both verbally accepted the matchup, according to the source.

Earlier this week, Affliction President Tom Atencio told FanHouse he would not be able to confirm any details until contracts were officially signed.

All this week FanHouse looks forward to Fedor Emelianenko's fight against Tim Sylvia by reliving Fedor's career history. This is the final installment. Here are parts one, two, and three.

With his wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic, Fedor had few legitimate contenders left to beat. The opponent that made the most sense was Josh Barnett, but as Pride tended to do, they immediately matched Fedor with a fighter that had no business being in the same ring.

vs. Zuluzinho

The son of famed vale tudo fighter Rei Zulu, the younger Zuluzinho was not entirely unskilled or untrained, but he couldn't hope to compete with the best in the world. The matchup was essentially a sight-gag -- to see Fedor stand next to the 6'6, 400-pound challenger. This completely unnecessary bout was mercifully quick: Fedor knocked Zuluzinho down twice and made him submit because of strikes in all of 26 seconds.