Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has been talked about for various reasons over the past few years. His showing in Strikeforce is a reference to the skills he has amassed as a mixed martial arts fighter. He compiled a record of 7-1, only losing to Luke Rockhold in a middleweight title match. Prior to that, Jacare not only beat Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight belt, but defended his title against Robbie Lawler before losing it via unanimous decision to Rockhold. His previous stints in other organizations have been extremely successful, proving why Jacare is one of the fastest growing names in mixed martial arts. However, even though the “mixed” portion of the sport is the most important, Jacare’s submission skills need to be glorified, as his grappling accomplishments are truly second to none.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza represents a whole new breed of BJJ
When considering past BJJ masters in the UFC, the Gracie family will forever maintain a revolutionary role in the rise of the sport. Moving forward in time, fighters like Demian Maia and BJ Penn have been just as influential in maintaining the importance of BJJ in mixed martial arts. While there is still immense respect for all forms of martial arts, Maia and Penn maintained the notion that BJJ can still be used to beat the toughest of MMA fighters. They have phenomenal ground games and are almost too confident on their backs. Even in the heavyweight division, guys like the Nogueira brothers, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabricio Werdum have shown how crucial a good submission game can be in MMA. Jacare could very well be, at least pound-for-pound, better than them all.
In his first UFC fight, Jacare displayed simply that. His great submission game helped him overcome Chris Camozzi, as he locked in a phenomenal arm triangle choke in the very first round. From the start, it looked like Camozzi didn’t stand a chance, and it wasn’t just because of Jacare’s submission skills, but because of how good an MMA fighter he’s become. After that fight, Jacare proved his previous stints in MMA were no fluke, and he seems poised to take the UFC middleweight division by storm.
The man now standing in his way is none other than UFC veteran Yushin Okami. “Thunder” is a grinder with great striking skills and the ability to really make you work for a win. His black belt in judo has helped him with wrestlers and takedowns in the past, but if he wants to beat Jacare, he needs to keep his distance and fire away. For a fighter who is so heavily concentrated in his submission game, Jacare has shown a great chin and ability to stand if the need arises. Of his three career MMA losses, only two have come by knockout. The first was in his very first match as an MMA fighter, and the other was a well-placed upkick by Gegard Mousasi at Dream FC 6. Since an accurate upkick could potentially knock any fighter out, Souza’s chin deserves some credit as he prepares for his toughest test in Okami.
For Okami, getting in close could prove to be his biggest mistake. However, based on his strength and size, he may be able to beat Jacare at his own game. Given that both fighters have strengths in different aspects of the game, this fight could really go either way. Both fighters have immense heart and determination to go the distance, making this a very interesting match up. More importantly, this fight will shape the UFC middleweight title picture indefinitely, as Okami ranks third in the division while Jacare sits in fifth. With that said, Okami has yet to tap in his MMA career, so if Jacare can lock in a submission come Wednesday night, the title of best BJJ in the UFC should be handed to none other than Ronaldo Souza, as he continues to put his stamp on the UFC middleweight division.
