6. Ronaldo Souza “Jacare”
The criminally underrated Brazilian legend, whose only appearance thus far was as the sixth greatest Strikeforce fighter ever (too low, even there), finishes in the same spot here. Personally, I think Souza evolved grappling in MMA and established a new standard of greatness, especially in the higher weight divisions. Before, we had seen amazing BJJ world champions whose wrestling ranged from mediocre to good, but nothing more. Souza was not only as great as there was among BJJ practitioners, but he was a great wrestler, able to take virtually anyone down. Some recognition in this regard should be given to Ricardo Arona and Paulo Filho, though Arona's BJJ wasn't as great as Souza's, and Filho was slightly worse in both areas. “Jacare” was also exceptionally smart and incorporated his grappling into MMA beautifully, timing his takedowns excellently and setting them up with his striking, which progressed greatly over the course of his career.
Souza made many other great grapplers look silly. He thoroughly dominated Jason Miller early in his career, submitted Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling silver medalist Matt Lindland at the end of the first round, clearly beat Tim Kennedy and choked out Robbie Lawler in the third round. However, for me his greatest accomplishment was his superlative rematch win against Gegard Mousasi, an excellent grappler with fantastic takedown defense and ability to sweep and get up. This was simply one of the most impressive displays of fighting I've ever seen in my life, and doubly so back in 2014. Souza used a perfectly timed series of takedowns and solid striking to disrupt and bamboozle Mousasi, shutting down the great fighter entirely. It was pure poetry in motion, and when late in Round 3 Mousasi tried to get back to his feet a little too quickly, the Brazilian alligator instantly pounced, with a guillotine choke locked in as tight as the predator's jaw. Sadly, due to bad luck, unfair decisions and the cruel twists of fate, Souza never became a middleweight champion in the UFC, despite being, in my eyes, far greater than several that were. At least he gets recognition for his grappling prowess here.
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