Coming up this weekend in the action-packed world of MMA, the UFC heads to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for UFC Fight Night 164 headlined by Jacare Souza making his light-heavyweight debut on home territory against the #6 ranked, Jan Blachowicz.
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jacare (26-7-1), will be looking to get back to winning ways following his unanimous decision defeat to Jack Hermansson back in April and prove he is still capable of challenging for a championship title in a higher weight class. He will be facing a very tough test in his welcome party, however, when he faces surging light-heavyweight contender, Jan Blachowicz (24-8).
Blachowicz is coming off a spectacular knockout win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 239, another former middleweight champion who made the move up and is hoping for a similar outcome when he walks into enemy territory this weekend and makes another huge statement in his quest for a title shot. On paper, this is a very interesting match up as both fighters are highly skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts who posses high-level striking abilities and bring an abundance of experience into the octagon. Both men are capable of finishing the fight in a number of different ways so it is difficult to see this fight going the distance, especially with it being a 5 round main event fight.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Jan Blachowicz Ronaldo Jacare Souza
36 AGE 39
6FT 2 IN HEIGHT 6FT 1 IN
78 IN REACH 72 IN
6 KO 8
9 SUB 14
1/2 (FAVOURITE) ODDS 13/8 (UNDERDOG)
The co-main event of the card sees another exciting match up at 205lbs as Brazilian MMA legend and former UFC champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (26-11), takes on Scottish contender ‘Bearjew’ Paul Craig (12-4), the former BAMMA light-heavyweight champion. This is a huge fight for the Scotsman who is coming off a brilliant submission victory back in September and is aiming to put the division on notice with a win over a UFC legend in his backyard and climb into the top 15. On the other hand, Shogun will be looking to put himself back in the title picture after almost a year-long lay off following his TKO victory over Tyson Pedro & prove he can still compete with the young contenders of the division.
The card also features a homecoming for the lightweight contender and holder of the most submissions in UFC history, Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliviera (27-8) as he faces Jared Gordon (15-3). Other notable matchups featured on the card include Sergio Moraes (14-6-1) vs James Krause (25-8), Francisco Trinaldo (23-7) vs Bobby Green (24-9), Douglas Silva De Andrade (25-3) vs Renan Barao (36-8) & Warlley Alves (14-3) vs Randy Brown (11-3).
HOW TO WATCH:
UK: BT Sport 1/1HD – Prelims start at 11 pm GMT, Main card begins at 1 am GMT.
US: ESPN+ APP – Prelims start at 5 pm ET, Main card begins at 8 pm ET.
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