His strikes are otherworldy and his accuracy is something to behold. If Blachowicz is too big to grapple with and too slippery to work a submission hold, the best bet is to go for broke. If Souza can stretch the fight, which normally favors Blachowicz, he might be able to outpace him in the later rounds, setting up for a dynamic finish. This should give him an edge unless the weight gain to move up messes his training up. Souza is a lean light heavyweight and will have the training and stamina of a smaller fighter. Yet, that also means they’re carrying more weight and are accustomed to fighting similar-sized combatants, so the endurance is different. Yes, the larger fighter has the reach and the range for striking and usually the ability to ground another fighter with a bit more ease. The big thing about size differences is that it usually works both for and against fighters. You’re fighting fire with fire, but it might just work. If Souza can stretch the fight, get it going into the third or fourth rounds, then Souza might be able to rack up enough points to get the decision victory. Both men have similar styles, though Souza is far more likely to work the ground.
Both men are evenly matched on paper so it’s hard to know who will have the edge at any one area. While Blachowicz is known for racking up more strikes, Souza isn’t a slouch in that realm either.
That is if Souza is, in fact, the more superior ground fighter. If Souza can apply constant pressure on the ground, while throwing in some well-timed punches, Souza can rack up favor with the judges. Work the groundĮven if Blachowicz fends off the submission attempts, the fact he’s working from a defensive spot on the ground could give Souza the edge on points. If Souza can get Blachowicz down early and go for a submission hold before both men become too slippery to grip, Souza could get an easy tap. Souza, however, likes the ground and loves going for the submission victory. He’s just as fine working the ground as he is standing and throwing. Blachowicz is someone who likes to rack up strikes. The one area that seems off-balanced is the number of decision wins to submissions. Both men have a nearly identical number of fights, wins, and knockouts. Take him down earlyīoth men are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts and thrive with ground-based styles. With that, here’s five keys to victory Souza must employ if he wants to stave off retirement and get a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Souza is used to being the bigger fighter, that won’t be the case here. Having never fought out of middleweight, this could pose a problem. This is made even more difficult when one stops to realize that Souza is moving up to light heavyweight. That’s not the world this fight is taking place in, however, and that means Souza has to win more fights like this one in order to get another title fight. If things break differently in both of his fights with Kelvin Gastelum and Jack Hermansson, then this could have easily been a shot at UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and not his current opponent of Jan Blachowicz. While he is only 3-3 in his last six, two of his last three losses were very close. At 39-years-old, Souza is viewed by many to be close to a title opportunity. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, is one of the UFC‘s most age-defying fighters the company has ever seen. At 39-years-old Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is looking to make another title run at the expense of Jan Błachowicz during the UFC Sao Paulo event.