Robbie Lawler vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza Planned for Fall Strikeforce Event
Submission expert Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is likely to make his Strikeforce debut against slugger Robbie Lawler on the undercard of a fall Strikeforce event headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the middleweight matchup to Fanhouse at Emelianenko’s open workout on Wednesday in New York City.
“Jacare” (10-2) extended his winning streak to 10-straight by winning his first three fights in DREAM over Ian Murphy, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and Zelg Galesic, but would next suffer a first-round knockout to Gegard Mousasi in the finals of DREAM’s middleweight grand prix last September. He returned to action in May, fighting to a no contest in a rematch with Miller after being cut open by an illegal kick in the bout.
A UFC veteran who trains out of Matt Hughes’ HIT Squad, Lawler (18-5) had won five-straight over the likes of Scott Smith, Frank Trigg, Joey Villasenor, and Murilo “Ninja” Rua, before being submitted by Jake Shields in the opening round of their June catchweight fight.
In addition to Emelianenko-Rogers and Lawler-Souza, an interim middleweight championship bout between Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller is also expected for the Showtime-televised card.
Pictured: Robbie Lawler
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Wow, though match for Lawler. I think Jacare’s submission skills will be too much for Lawler, that stinks cause I really like Robbie. Seems like a stand-up guy.
“Stand-up” guy. Good one. Although your probably right about the submission thing ether, Robbie will likely be a little sharper come fight night after that humiliating loss to shields.
I guess the winner gets a crack at the belt.
Winner of this fights the winner of Mayhem/ Sheilds, IMO.
Souza probably can beat Robbie, but I will be pulling for Robbie. I highly doubt he will make such a stupid mistake as he did against Shields.
Should be Shields vs Souza and Lawler vs Miller.
Agreed.
Those match-ups would have probably produced, at least on paper, more engaging fights, particularly Lawler and Miller.
I’m also assuming that the Lawler fight will more closely resemble a man fighting an octopus, as Jacare will almost certainly drag Lawler to the mat and click thru a variety of submissions until he hooks one and ends the fight…