Okami vs. Souza

This is the official discussion thread for Okami vs. Souza. Let's see what you've got.

@bman518  i do see your point and that could very well happen in this fight, but 2 if it does stay standing Souza has good nasty knockout power and  rather good takedown defense

@nogfan Souza doesn't have that much power and Okami's chin isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Souza could definitely outstrike Yushin but I don't see this ending in a finish either way. Also, I never said Okami could take down Jacare.

* Edited at 06.24.2013, 9:55 PM ET *

@bman518 i know but when i mean grapple or wrestle i meant the cage grinding Okami's known for. Also,  Jacare KTFO'd Brunson(while name wise Derek Brunson isn''t  extremely impressive, it was still a violent finish and showcased Jacare's development as a fighter as a whole)

http://www.mma-core.com/videos/fights/Ronaldo_Jacare_Souza_vs_Derehttp://www.mma-

Jacare may be on a completely different level compared to Belcher and Lombard, but I'm still going to bank on Okami derailing another hype train via lackluster decision.

Okami hasn't been subbed in almost 40 pro fights.

^^^^
He also out grappled ADCC champ Dean Lister in their bout.

Okami is awesome and still one of the top guys, Boetsch was a bit of a fluke (all of Boetch's fights I think have been, and he lost to Lombard in my opinion, couldnt get a TD and was hit with much harder shots though fewer than he landed on Lombard, Okami was annihilated by Chael and I think Souza will do the same. I think Souza may be near Chael's level and the added leverage of his striking power and Okami's chin. Okami is most definately top 5, him and Vitor have stopped all possible challengers from going to a title shot. I dont like them matching up so many guys against Vitor and Okami, they arent likely to get title shots and are killing off everyone else. rant.

@p4pGoat, Okami has competed against Jacare and Maia in grappling and if I'm not mistaken neither were able to submit him. Okami isn't a "wrassler" he is an elite grappler who shines in defensively and in controlling aspects. Okami has a great passing game too but against Jacare I think that may be nullified. Although I think the ground is playing with fire against Jacare for anyone, Okami is huge and knows how to use top pressure, he can tire Jacare out, Okami surely should be favored cardio wise? Okami's striking has gotten a lot more diverse and technical, he has a strong 1,2 and straight knees. His grappling prowess transfers well into clinch striking and his kicking game seems to be ever improving. I was really shocked at how Okami was able to overpower Lombard and Belcher too.

That all said, to me this fight is terribly even in terms of size, age, skill with experience edge to Okami comes the homefield advantage for Jacare. I'm not biased for this one in the least, if Okami wins I'm glad he can keep repping the far east like MMA needs and if Jacare wins there's so many more amazing fights for him to go onto have. This is one of the more compelling matchups in terms of competitiveness to come along in a while, I'm excited to see how it plays out.

* Edited at 09.03.2013, 9:37 AM ET *

Roger Gracie broke Jacare's arm in a BJJ match before... Jacare simply tucked his arm into his belt and continued the match. Okami, you sir, are ******.

@nomad. Keep in mind that submission grappling is not MMA. Even though you are in the same positions, you don't have to worry about strikes in ADCC or other competitions. A couple well placed shots and things can drastically change.

@Amp112 Obviously I kept that in mind but your point only furthers Okami's case rather than Jacare's. Since Okami most likely will be entertaining top position, using the cage to stifle Jacares guard along with threatening and distracting with strikes to enhance his fight grappling. My point is if Jacare can't submit Okami in a pure grappling match I think it's very stupid for people to claim he can submit Okami in a mixed martial arts match...easily? 

If Okami gets put on his back by Jacare consistently, he's ******....There's no way he's winning this fight if he can't stop Jacare from coming forward, but I think there's a very reasonable chance he can. I'm not sure who to favor in this fight, it's giving me fits really.

I want to see how Jacare's TDD stacks up. Rockhold did have some problems in their fight taking him down, but Rockhold is no Okami, so we'll see. Jacare is a very smart fighter. Not only do I think that Okami will have trouble passing his guard, but I think Okami will have problems getting him into a position to take him down.

I notice that the vast majority of Okami's takedowns come in the clinch against the cage. 

As a Jacare fan, I want to see more of his striking. It improves in every fight, especially after the Rockhold fight where he realized that can be a problem area.

Well, Okami's grappling base was Judo for years growing up and all of his wrestling training comes from mixed martial arts and Chael being a big contributor to that, Chael as a decorated Greco wrestler US Nation Champ, Olympic Alternate, International University Silver Medalist ect. Although I must say as of late I've noticed Okami developing a strong single leg and not to mention a lead hook. That's probably the coolest thing about Okami to me 29-7 at 32 he's still growing as a martial artist.

Jacare's performance against Brunson was impressive, I thought highly of Brunson going into that fight. His win over Chris Camozzi, well Camozzi isn't a top 30 Middleweight, maybe not even top 50 what did you really expect? His fights against Kennedy and Rockhold were 5 close round decisions and he by no means blew Mayhem out of the water. His fight against Mousasi, we know how that ended. As of now, Jacare is a lot of hype similar to Lombard and Belcher. Okami's going to put that to the test but as you can see, I think Jacare will pass.

No one gives Okami the credit he deserves though, he's really quite the technician. I already stated although Okami has a great passing game I'm confident Jacare's guard will nullify most of that. Though Jacare's best when he can take your back or get top position in grappling scenarios which I don't see him having an easy time doing to Yushin. We'll see, I'm just very excited for this fight I can talk about it all day long but no one wants to hear that.

* Edited at 09.03.2013, 2:39 PM ET *

Okami looked bigger than I expected next to Jacare.

Jacare looks much meaner now than he did when he had hair

**** my head will explode making this pick

1 year ago I would´ve picked Okami without a second tought, today I´m not sure I think Jacare has improved his striking enought to put Okami in trouble but Okami is one of the best grinders out there and he is a huge MW, I don´t think for a second that he could submit Jacare but I do think he can wall and stall or take him to the ground and hump him endlessly. I want to pick Jacare but I think the safest pick is Okami

I expect a classic Okami performance, pushing Jacare up against the cage/score some takedowns and generally outstrike him on the feet

Hes one of the best fighters in the division, hes fought and beaten better guys and he has more tools to win this fight. 

I think a lot of people are going to be shocked after this fight.