Jacare Souza recorded an impressive win over fellow middleweight contender Tim Boetsch with a submission in the first round of their bout at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, New York last night before labelling his intentions of revenge over middleweight giant Yoel Romero.
“Jacare” came into the fight as a huge favourite and it was clear to see why. With just one loss to his name in his last eleven fights, Souza is a fighter to be feared and opponent Boetsch had lost three of his last five fights coming into the bout, making him a clear underdog.
Comfortable victory for Souza
The fight went exactly to plan for the Brazilian as he looked to exploit the weakness of “The Barbarian”. With the American’s strength being his striking power, Jacare was hesitant, patient and looked for the takedown at every opportunity. After failing his first attempt, he got back to his feet and landed kicks to the body and head of Boetsch, trying to force an opening. Boetsch did land a significant strike and appeared to have rocked Souza but the 37-year-old came straight back landing a solid punch to the body of the American before taking him down.
After remaining in side control for the best part of 30 seconds, landing regular blows to Boetsch’s head, “Jacare” went into full mount and into a commanding position. With just over a minute remaining of the first round, Souza got his opponent into a Kimura lock and won the fight by submission when referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight, handing the X-Gym athlete the victory via submission.
Jacare locks in on Boetsch’s weakness
This marks the third fight in “The Barbarian”s career where he lost by being held in the Kimura lock. Jacare revealed that he was aiming to take Boetsch to the floor and quoted “It was a position I found myself in throughout the fight and I gave away a mount to go to the Kimura. It was the one position I got into all the time so it was a good chance for me”.
With this submission comes a great belief that Jacare is more than capable of competing for the middleweight title. Already an extraordinary athlete with speed, power and an unrivalled ground game in the middleweight division, it is evident that Souza has a wonderful ring IQ.
Romero rematch
The Brazilian made no secret of his quest for the middleweight title and expressed his delight at the prospect of a rematch with the number one contender Yoel Romero. The pair first met in December 2015 at UFC 194 on what went to be a historic night at the MGM Grand Arena.
With the first match going to a split decision, it was poised for a rematch but the pair have yet to meet since their first encounter. The Brazilian believes he had the better of the Cuban and quoted in the post fight presser “If the fight against Romero happens, I can prove that I never lost the match and it’s going to be a good fight for me. I can prove that I didn’t lose my first fight and the rematch will be on my side. I lost to the judge. Not to him”.
Brazil with another UFC belt?
With Jose Aldo and Amanda Nunes holding their respective belts, the Brazilian flag is flying high in the UFC promotion. After just one loss in six years, a controversial loss at that, many believe Souza deserves a title shot.
With the recent news of “Soldier of God” being next in line for the title shot we will see the winner of the fight pit their wits against the fierce South American. With Michael Bisping‘s last loss coming by way of submission, Souza will be looking to inflict a similar result on the champion should he beat Romero and decide to defend.
Should Romero beat “The Count”, we will see a highly anticipated clash between the North American and South American. Not only would it give Souza the chance to claim the middleweight title, it would perhaps allow him to avenge his only defeat in the Octagon in over half a decade.
