Tag: Ronaldo Jacare Souza

Strikeforce Live Blog: Jacare Souza vs. Luke Rockhold Updates

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CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold, a middleweight title bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Souza (14-2), coming off a submission win over Robbie Lawler in January, is making his second title defense. Rockhold (7-1) has won six straight fights under the Strikeforce banner.

The live blog is below.


Round 1: Souza flicks out a kick to start and Rockhold comes forward behind a couple low kicks of his own. Rockhold tries a knee off a Souza takedown attempt, but then gets caught with a hard right that sends him reeling across the cage. Souza follows, looking for the takedown. He struggles to get Rockhold down, but can’t do much more than hold him there. Rockhold tries to wall-walk and Souza punishes him with right hands for his trouble. Rockhold finally works to his feet and Souza nails him with a good knee in the clinch before letting him slip free. Rockhold showing some redness around his eyes, and Souza adds to it with another right hand that lands cleanly. Rockhold opens up with one flashy kick after another in the final 30 seconds, catching Souza with the second one. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Souza.

Round 2: Spinning heel kick to the body by Rockhold to start round two. He opens up with several kicks to the head and legs right afterwards, keeping Souza on the defensive. Huge right hand from Souza wobbles Rockhold. He’s in trouble. Souza goes after him and nails him with a couple more rights, but Rockhold hangs on and recovers with remarkable quickness. Another switch kick from Rockhold is mostly blocked. Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch and grabs a clinch. Rockhold works some knees to the thigh in close before Souza reverses the position. Rockhold comes forward with a nice straight left. Souza answers with another of those nasty looking rights. The horn sounds and MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 3: Rockhold comes forward with a couple of kicks and Souza backs up to avoid them before firing off one of his own. Rockhold tosses out a left and then a low kick that nails Souza solidly in the groin. Referee Dan Miragliotta pauses it to give Souza a chance to recover. The fight restarts and Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch in search of a takedown, which he eventually gets. Rockhold scrambles up and Souza thinks about a standing kimura, but it was a little ambitious even for him. Rockhold winds up for a couple more kicks, but Souza can see them all coming and covers up to block. Rockhold stings Souza with a left, but Souza comes right back with another right hand that lands behind Rockhold’s ear. Rockhold spins all the way around hoping to surprise Souza with one last kick before the round ends, but no dice. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 4: Rockhold slams Souza with a kick to the body in the early going of the fourth. ‘That hurt him!’ Rockhold’s corner shouts. Souza fires back with a right hand that shows he’s not too badly damaged. Souza dives in with a hook that misses, then settles for a clinch where he can fire off a nice knee before Rockhold reverses and puts his back against the fence. They separate and Rockhold misses with a hook, leaving an opening for Souza to come in behind a big right that grazes Rockhold. Souza shoots for a double-leg, but Rockhold defends well, even though he seems to be slowing down a little. Rockhold tries a spinning back heel kick and Souza grabs his leg, looking for the takedown. Rockhold defends and lands a knee in the clinch in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rockhold.

Round 5: Rockhold’s corner warns him that Souza is going to “come on strong” to start the final round, and they send him out with one word of advice: “Keep your hands up.” Souza doesn’t start any more aggressively than usual, however, and it’s Rockhold who’s on offense early. He backs Souza up with those long kicks and lands a nice left on a tired Souza. Souza moves into another clinch behind a right hand, and eventually gets Rockhold down. Rockhold soon works back to his feet without absorbing any damage, then goes on the attack with a couple punch combos that have Souza backing up. Rockhold follows after him and Souza snaps a front kick into his face, sending sweat flying in the final minute. Both men are tired, but Souza presses forward with a looping right and they end the fight leaning on each other in the clinch. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10.

Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)

Well, that’s surprising. Just about every round was close, but I’m not sure how you give Rockhold every one of them.

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CINCINNATI — This is the Strikeforce live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Luke Rockhold, a middleweight title bout on tonight’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

Souza (14-2), coming off a submission win over Robbie Lawler in January, is making his second title defense. Rockhold (7-1) has won six straight fights under the Strikeforce banner.

The live blog is below.


Round 1: Souza flicks out a kick to start and Rockhold comes forward behind a couple low kicks of his own. Rockhold tries a knee off a Souza takedown attempt, but then gets caught with a hard right that sends him reeling across the cage. Souza follows, looking for the takedown. He struggles to get Rockhold down, but can’t do much more than hold him there. Rockhold tries to wall-walk and Souza punishes him with right hands for his trouble. Rockhold finally works to his feet and Souza nails him with a good knee in the clinch before letting him slip free. Rockhold showing some redness around his eyes, and Souza adds to it with another right hand that lands cleanly. Rockhold opens up with one flashy kick after another in the final 30 seconds, catching Souza with the second one. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Souza.

Round 2: Spinning heel kick to the body by Rockhold to start round two. He opens up with several kicks to the head and legs right afterwards, keeping Souza on the defensive. Huge right hand from Souza wobbles Rockhold. He’s in trouble. Souza goes after him and nails him with a couple more rights, but Rockhold hangs on and recovers with remarkable quickness. Another switch kick from Rockhold is mostly blocked. Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch and grabs a clinch. Rockhold works some knees to the thigh in close before Souza reverses the position. Rockhold comes forward with a nice straight left. Souza answers with another of those nasty looking rights. The horn sounds and MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 3: Rockhold comes forward with a couple of kicks and Souza backs up to avoid them before firing off one of his own. Rockhold tosses out a left and then a low kick that nails Souza solidly in the groin. Referee Dan Miragliotta pauses it to give Souza a chance to recover. The fight restarts and Souza ducks under a Rockhold punch in search of a takedown, which he eventually gets. Rockhold scrambles up and Souza thinks about a standing kimura, but it was a little ambitious even for him. Rockhold winds up for a couple more kicks, but Souza can see them all coming and covers up to block. Rockhold stings Souza with a left, but Souza comes right back with another right hand that lands behind Rockhold’s ear. Rockhold spins all the way around hoping to surprise Souza with one last kick before the round ends, but no dice. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Souza.

Round 4: Rockhold slams Souza with a kick to the body in the early going of the fourth. ‘That hurt him!’ Rockhold’s corner shouts. Souza fires back with a right hand that shows he’s not too badly damaged. Souza dives in with a hook that misses, then settles for a clinch where he can fire off a nice knee before Rockhold reverses and puts his back against the fence. They separate and Rockhold misses with a hook, leaving an opening for Souza to come in behind a big right that grazes Rockhold. Souza shoots for a double-leg, but Rockhold defends well, even though he seems to be slowing down a little. Rockhold tries a spinning back heel kick and Souza grabs his leg, looking for the takedown. Rockhold defends and lands a knee in the clinch in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Rockhold.

Round 5: Rockhold’s corner warns him that Souza is going to “come on strong” to start the final round, and they send him out with one word of advice: “Keep your hands up.” Souza doesn’t start any more aggressively than usual, however, and it’s Rockhold who’s on offense early. He backs Souza up with those long kicks and lands a nice left on a tired Souza. Souza moves into another clinch behind a right hand, and eventually gets Rockhold down. Rockhold soon works back to his feet without absorbing any damage, then goes on the attack with a couple punch combos that have Souza backing up. Rockhold follows after him and Souza snaps a front kick into his face, sending sweat flying in the final minute. Both men are tired, but Souza presses forward with a looping right and they end the fight leaning on each other in the clinch. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-10.

Luke Rockhold def. Ronaldo Souza via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47)

Well, that’s surprising. Just about every round was close, but I’m not sure how you give Rockhold every one of them.

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Barnett vs. Kharitonov Pre-Fight Press Conference Highlights

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CINCINNATI — Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, King Mo Lawal, Roger Gracie, Antonio Silva, Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockford and Ronaldo Jacare Souza gathered in front of the media Thursday to discuss their fights on Saturday’s Strikeforce event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

For highlights of what each of the fighters had to say, check out the video below.

 

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CINCINNATI — Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, King Mo Lawal, Roger Gracie, Antonio Silva, Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockford and Ronaldo Jacare Souza gathered in front of the media Thursday to discuss their fights on Saturday’s Strikeforce event at the U.S. Bank Arena.

For highlights of what each of the fighters had to say, check out the video below.

 

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Training Camp Journal: X-Gym

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Strikeforce fighters Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante will be competing on the Sept. 10 Strikeforce card in Cincinnati against Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier and Yoel Romero, respectively. MMA Fighting was granted an inside look at one of their final training sessions at X-Gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before leaving as a team to the United States.

Watch below as the fighters train and spar together in our latest Training Camp Journal, shot and edited by E. Casey Leydon.

 

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Strikeforce fighters Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante will be competing on the Sept. 10 Strikeforce card in Cincinnati against Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier and Yoel Romero, respectively. MMA Fighting was granted an inside look at one of their final training sessions at X-Gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before leaving as a team to the United States.

Watch below as the fighters train and spar together in our latest Training Camp Journal, shot and edited by E. Casey Leydon.

 

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Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza Focused on Winning Fights and Making Babies

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MMA Fighting recently caught up with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at X-Gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss his upcoming middleweight title fight against Luke Rockhold at Strikeforce in Cincinnati, the holes he sees in Rockhold’s game, the UFC‘s return to Brazil and whether he would like to fight in Brazil.

 

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MMA Fighting recently caught up with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at X-Gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss his upcoming middleweight title fight against Luke Rockhold at Strikeforce in Cincinnati, the holes he sees in Rockhold’s game, the UFC‘s return to Brazil and whether he would like to fight in Brazil.

 

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7 Fan-centric Fights for Anderson Silva Now That He’s Beaten Everyone


(All in favor of seeing Anderson attempt to improve his moneyweight record, say ‘I.'”)

Since Anderson Silva has effectively cleared out the UFC’s middleweight division and will likely eventually start a string of rematches against the likes of Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, we figured why not come up with a list of fights he could take in the interim that stoke the fires of fans.

Check them out, in no particular order after the jump.


(All in favor of seeing Anderson attempt to improve his moneyweight record, say ‘I.’”)

Since Anderson Silva has effectively cleared out the UFC’s middleweight division and will likely eventually start a string of rematches against the likes of Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, we figured why not come up with a list of fights he could take in the interim that stoke the fires of fans.

Check them out, in no particular order after the jump.

MMA Top 10 Middleweights: Mark Munoz Rises

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, MiddleweightsCould Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question…

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Could Mark Munoz be a future contender to Anderson Silva‘s middleweight title? That’s a question few people would have asked before UFC 131. But after Munoz beat Demian Maia, it’s a serious question.

After defeating Maia, Munoz is 6-1 since moving down to middleweight, with the only loss coming by split decision to Yushin Okami, the UFC‘s current No. 1 middleweight contender. Munoz is probably only one more win away from being the UFC’s best option to fight Silva, assuming Silva beats Okami.

Munoz would be a huge underdog to Silva, of course, but every middleweight is a huge underdog to Silva. And Munoz, a former NCAA champion wrestler, at least has the tools to threaten Silva where he’s weakest. Munoz and Silva are friends and training partners, and they might not wish to fight each other. But if both of them win their next fights, we could be heading toward a situation where fighting each other is what the UFC asks them to do.

See where I have Munoz ranked among the middleweights in MMA below.

(Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did middleweights are in parentheses.)

1. Anderson Silva (1): The last time Silva lost, it was by disqualification when he illegally kicked Okami in the head on the ground. Since then Silva is 14-0, with half of those wins coming by first round knockout or technical knockout.

2. Chael Sonnen (2): Sonnen still deserves to be ranked No. 2 because of his impressive win over Okami and his tough fight with Silva, but soon he’s going to start dropping because of inactivity. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for Sonnen’s problems getting an athletic commission to license him.

3. Vitor Belfort (3): Belfort’s 19-9 record really doesn’t do his career justice, as the nine losses are to a who’s who of great fighters: He’s lost to Randy Couture twice, Alistair Overeem twice and Kazushi Sakuraba, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva. Up next for Belfort is Yoshihiro Akiyama.

4. Yushin Okami (4): Although Okami does technically have a victory over Silva on his record, Silva was getting the better of Okami before he was disqualified for the illegal kick. If Okami can beat Silva in their August rematch in Rio, it would probably be the biggest upset of the year in MMA.

5. Mark Munoz (NR): Getting knocked cold by Matt Hamill might have been the best thing to ever happen to Munoz. That fight made him decide to move down from 205 pounds to 185, and he’s much more impressive at the lighter weight.

6. Demian Maia (5): The Maia-Munoz fight could have gone either way, and even in defeat Maia showed that his striking is continuing to improve. However, the fight also showed that Maia can’t just submit anyone he gets to the ground. In his first five UFC fights Maia submitted all five opponents, but in his last six fights he hasn’t submitted anyone.

7. Brian Stann (6): A matchup between Stann and Munoz would make a lot of sense as a next step for the UFC, and the winner would have a strong case for being the next No. 1 contender in the middleweight division.

8. Ronaldo Souza (7): Jacare, the Strikeforce middleweight champion, will defend his title against Luke Rockhold in September. Rockhold is 7-1, and all seven wins are by first-round stoppage, but he’s not on the same level as Jacare, who should be able to make Rockhold tap.

9. Wanderlei Silva (8): The soon-to-be 35-year-old Silva isn’t the fighter he once was, but his UFC 132 fight with Chris Leben promises to be an all-out war. And if he wins in spectacular fashion, it’s possible that the Axe Murderer could get the next shot at the middleweight belt.

10. Michael Bisping (10): With no UFC events in England this year, Bisping will not have any fights in his homeland for the first year since 2006, when he was an Ultimate Fighter contestant. Instead Bisping will coach on The Ultimate Fighter and take on Jason “Mayhem” Miller in December.

 

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