Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza looks towards the future
by Aaron Butler on May 20, 2010

Five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and Strikeforce middleweight contender Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is looking to move into title contention with his most recent win over Joey Villasenor.

Arguably one of Souza's toughest tests to date, Villasenor was overwhelmed from the onset by seemingly unstoppable takedowns from "Jacare". Though the pace slowed for Souza in rounds two and three, the BJJ wizard went on to win an easy unanimous decision, bringing his record to 2-0 in Strikeforce and 12-2-1 overall in his MMA career.

"Mission accomplished," said Souza. "I'm feeling great right now, it was a good win. I did very well in the first round, but I expended a lot of energy. It effected my performance later in the fight, but, as you can see, I fought through it and finished the fight."

Souza may be catching fire at the perfect time given the current shake-up in the Strikeforce middleweight division. With reigning middleweight champion Jake Shields likely high tailing it for the greener pastures of the UFC, the door is being left wide open for the upper echelon in the division.

It would appear that Souza is well aware of this fact.

"I hope to fight again as soon as possible, and that the title dispute doesn't last too long," said Souza."

It remains to be seen what Strikeforce is going to do about the title situation if Shields does decide to jump ship. One thing that seems certain however, is that Souza will likely play a big part in those plans.

 |  (23) Comments Mtx: Great read Aaron. Although I was a bit dissapointed that Jacare couldn't finish Villaseñor I hope him the best in the division. He is a fun fighter to watch, specially when he gets up kicked :p Sorry jits, just had to say it On the other hand, I hated how the SF commentators just kept on saying Jacare "The Alligator" Sosa. Morons, Jacare is a kind of alligator and Jacare isn't his freaking name. Thewy where just saying "Alligator The Alligator Souza". SF really needs to bring its production value up. horizontalcracker: Souza just needs to fix his cardio problem and work on his stand-up more. I'm wondering if the cardio problem was from a large weight cut as well. JujitsWho: I have said this already, but had this fight taken place in the UFC, Joey likely would have been finished by Jacare in the first round. Jacare was in a dominate position the whole round, had he been able to throw elbows, he likely wins a TKO, or those shots would have also opened up Joey for subs. D_V: Jacare looked bad, for him. He was rushing the ground and should have been able to finish Joe. That's the thing though, he's not that good as a submission fighter. guys will shit on me for it, but think about it. If that was Maia, would Villasenor have left the fight with his limbs in tact, after being in full mount? no fucking way. Jacare is a stellar athlete and that's why he wins grappling tourneys. He is not as technical as the best grapplers are, or at least, he sure as shit isn't in MMA. It's like GSP in a lot of ways. He dominates with good form and sheer athleticism. He needs to step up the technique and finish fights when he has those positions. drop to a leg lock even. What's he afraid of? Joe wasn't going to go into his guard. i don't know. i wasn't inpressed. He doesn't know what type of fighter he wants to be. JujitsWho: Wow that hate just keeps flowing. He looked fine but does need some polishing, and Joey is a tough dude with a good ground game. Saying Jacare's BJJ technique is lacking is like saying GSPs wrestling is, its bullshit. You can't sub everyone at this level. Its obvious that he was looking more for the TKO, but Joey did a good job not giving up limps and covering at the same time. Jacare still dominated that fight, Joey landed good shots, but Souza was never in danger of losing that fight Andrew: I dont think Jacare is overrated anywhere but here. He isn't a world beater at least not yet. Compare his two fights with Mayhem to Sheilds fight with Mayhem. Sheilds dominated for the most part Jacare quit. Yes it was an illegal kick but I don't think it should have ended the fight. horizontalcracker: Yea, my comment comes purely from the hype that I've read on this forum. Talking about ooo Jacare over Maia blah blah blah nuthugging blah blah and the etc. If he gassed in the first round trying to finish him, he needs to be smarter, he can't bank on being able to finish whoever he wants in the first as long as he goes all out. And as mentioned before, he did originally miss the weight cut.
HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!