Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has only fought under the Strikeforce banner twice, but his presence is already being felt by the top middleweights in the promotion. Building off his submission victory over Matt Lindland at “Strikeforce: Evolution”, Jacare scored another dominant victory, defeating fellow contender Joey Villasenor via unanimous decision at Saturday night’s “Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery” event in St. Louis, Missouri. Souza dominated the first round, but Villasenor made it a fight, as the final two rounds were at least a bit competitive.
“I like a fight like that,” stated Jacare. ” It was a war and it was a great fight.”
Five months have separated Jacare’s two fights with the promotion, but as the Brazilian rises in title contention, he likely will not be waiting too long before stepping back into action. At least that is what Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker thinks on the matter.
“You’ll see Jacare back sooner than later,” explained Coker in the post-fight press conference.
Jacare mirrored Coker’s statement and looks to return soon as well. He is just waiting on the promotion to give him an opponent and a date.
“Strikeforce is my home,” stated Jacare. ” (I’m) waiting on Strikeforce to tell me what will be the next fight. (I’m) getting ready for more.”
Strikeforce could certainly use a fighter like Souza to stay a bit more active with the promotion. If Jake Shields and the promotion do not reach a contract, which seems rather likely at this point in time, Strikeforce will find themselves without a middleweight champion. A talent like Jacare could certainly compete for a title at this point if need be and, from what we have seen, he could very well end up a champion soon if he stays active in 2010.