With A Win At UFC Fight Night 36, ‘Jacare’ Souza Might Deserve A Title Shot He Won’t Get

Surging No. 3-ranked UFC middleweight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is on a roll. The former Strikeforce 185-pound champ has finished five straight bouts after dropping his title to Luke Rockhold in September 2011.

Two of those finishes were against Chris Camozzi and Yushin Okami in “Jacare’s” first UFC bouts. The Okami win was undoubtedly Souza’s biggest performance to date, as he made a former UFC title challenger look silly by knocking him out in less than three minutes.

Souza now looks to extend his winning streak to six when he takes on dangerous Francis Carmont in the co-main event of this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 36 from the Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil. The No. 8-ranked “Limitless” has quietly racked up a huge 11-fight win streak of his own, defeating six straight opponents inside the Octagon. That momentum has largely gone unnoticed because Carmont has largely won by decision, but he is nonetheless an under-the-radar contender who can pose problems for any middleweight.

But, “Jacare” has simply looked on another level as of late, and he heads into the bout as roughly a 4-to-1 favorite.

UFC Fight Night 36 features a pivotal middleweight main event between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Gegard Mousasi, one that could potentially decide the division’s next title challenger (most likely Machida, should he win). With Vitor Belfort set to challenge divisional champ Chris Weidman at UFC 173 this May, top-level contenders are lining up for a shot at the belt that was once locked down for years by Anderson Silva.

So in a crowded title picture, where does “Jacare” go if he defeats Carmont, especially with one of his trademark finishes? There won’t be much room for him to move up at the top of the rankings; at least not until Belfort probably loses two fights and we find out just what “The Spider’s” next move is after he recovers from surgery.

That puts Souza in a very odd position. His world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree is probably the best in the middleweight division, if not all of MMA, and lately his striking has rapidly caught up to his ground skills. However, he’s still going to have to win one if not two huge fights before he gets his coveted title shot.

If and when he gets past Carmont, fights with big name competitors like Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, provided they get past Tim Kennedy and Tim Boetsch, respectively, could make sense for the streaking “Jacare.” He could also be matched up against the loser of Weidman vs. Belfort, or even the winner of Machida vs. Mousasi/ The fact is that he needs to be in big fights from henceforth.

Souza’s talent level has simply become impossible to pass up.

It’s still unlikely that he receives a title shot unless he does something truly unique this Saturday night. I’d say that if he notches his sixth consecutive finish in a row, he definitely deserves a title shot. Again he’s the unfortunate byproduct of middleweight suddenly being populated by a dangerous list of killers at the top.

Should “Jacare” win in Jaragua do Sul, it’ll be time to place him right up there with names like Belfort, Weidman, and Machida. Of course, if he loses, he’ll have to go back to the drawing board and work his way up a long ladder.

But if recent history tells us anything, “Jacare” is motivated beyond belief to taste gold once again. When will his next chance arise?

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