Jacare

Strikeforce had a lot to be thankful for on Saturday night, as the promotion put on a fantastic event. The show featured two champions as Nick Diaz defended his Welterweight title in the main event and Middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defended his title for the first time against perennial contender Robbie Lawler. Jacare which is Portuguese for alligator is considered to be one of the greatest ju-jitsu practitioners of all time and he demonstrated why on Saturday night, as he submitted Lawler in the third round of their five round fight. The matchup was a classic striker vs. grappler match and Robbie Lawler quickly dropped the Anderson Silva trained Jacare in the first round, but made the mistake of following him to the ground which was Jacare’s territory. This proved to be a huge mistake, because Jacare was able to nullify the rest of the attack from Lawler forcing a standup. That was all the offense Lawler provided in the fight, as Jacare dominated until the end. Jacare’s grappling game was the focus of round two, as he forced Lawler to carry his weight and left no space for Lawler to do anything productive. Jacare easily passed into side control at will and even attempted two quick arm bars but he was unable to finish. The third round was much of the same, as Jacare quickly brought Lawler back to the ground, using his patented “Jacare” takedowns, and he took Lawler’s back immediately. As soon as Jacare locked the figure four body lock on Lawler, you can sense the end was near and it was going to take a miracle for Lawler to escape. Unfortunately for Lawler, his miracle did not get the memo and he was forced to tap out to a rear naked choke.

This was a huge statement for Jacare as he cemented his place as the dominant champion in the Strikeforce division. The question now lingers on who his next opponent will be since the Strikeforce roster is not stacked with clear cut contenders. Jacare has already shunned the idea of a possible third meeting with Jason Miller, claiming he already fought him twice and did not feel he was worthy of a title shot . This leaves a shot list of contenders such as living legend Dan Henderson, Kazuo Misaki, or even Sengoku Middleweight champion Jorge Santiago. Out of the three, I am hoping Strikeforce is able to secure Santiago as the next opponent, since I believe it would be an excellent matchup and a true test for Jacare. Jorge Santiago has not competed since August 2010 and is without a named opponent, so the timing could be perfect for Strikeforce to bring him over to America and have a champion vs. champion bout. If this is not the case, then whoever Strikeforce deems worthy enough to compete next for the title, they better be prepared because the alligator is only improving every fight.