Since the closure of Strikeforce, many of the divisions of the UFC became swollen with fighting talent. Two of those warriors that battled each other for the middleweight title will face hearty competition in New Jersey on the UFC on FOX 15 main card.
With “Jacare” pitted in a rematch against Chris Camozzi and Rockhold vying for a #1 contender spot against the always dangerous Lyoto Machida — the 185-pound division is heating up. Both men know about stiff competition. Especially since they’ve already been to war with each other in a contentious 5-round war. Back in 2011, just before Strikeforce shut their doors, we got a taste of what a bout between the two top contenders would look like.
In a back and forth bout that put Luke Rockhold back on the map after a 19-month layoff—we saw flashes of Rockhold’s excellent wrestling and flashy kickboxing combos. The story of the night was also the overhand right of “Jacare” Souza. Timed perfectly on several occasions—“Jacare” nearly put away Rockhold with his physical strength early in the bout. Rockhold was able to persevere through hardship each time and went on to finish each of the five rounds strong. His outside leg kicks helped limit the forward movement of “Jacare”—limiting his ability to press forward and out-grapple Rockhold in the clinch.
Rockhold also used a technically sound spinning back kick to the chest of “Jacare” to keep him at distance. Rockhold used these opportunities to put “Jacare” in danger with straight punch combos even after being dropped by the big right hand of “Jacare”. High kicks that landed stiff on the forearms of “Jacare”– eventually taking the power out of his punches, leaving him susceptible to the technical striking of Rockhold. After the long and drawn out battle of wits began to come to a close—Rockhold put the pressure on during the last moments of the fight and left the judges with a positive impression of his skills. While “Jacare” had clearly out-grappled Rockhold—the judges decided that Rockhold had displayed enough cage control and aggression to take the Strikeforce middleweight title away for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
With the upcoming UFC on FOX card, both men will be looking to cement their place in the UFC middleweight division. Will they meet again in the UFC octagon for another slugfest? Only time will tell.
