Strikeforce Heavy Artillery Preview: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Joey Villasenor Clash in Middleweight Action

The lone middleweight contest out of the twelve-fight inventory of battles taking place at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery will pit DREAM veteran and five-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (11-2-0; 1 NC, 1-0 SF) against EliteXC and Strikeforce staple Joey Villasenor (27-6, 2-1 SF) in a match-up of contrasting styles. Souza is coming off an impressive victory over former UFC fighter Matt Lindland at Strikeforce: Evolution in which he submitted Lindland via arm triangle choke in the first round. Villasenor is riding a four-fight win streak with wins over Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, Phil Baroni, Ryan Jensen, and Riki Fukuda

Stylistically, Villasenor is primarily a striker with enough wrestling know-how and Brazilian jiu-jitsu acumen to maintain a stand-up position throughout a fight. Souza, on the other hand, is more of a ground fighter with an improving stand-up game. Obviously his Brazilian jiu-jitsu credentials scream out to anyone who's listening that a fight is much more likely to hit the floor if Souza is involved, but he's not your standard mixed martial arts grappler. Where other fighters fail in positioning and submission knowledge, Souza excels, and his physical strength truly sets him apart from many of his divisional counterparts.

Villasenor is going to have a laborious time trying to stop Souza's takedown attempts in this battle. While he's been successful in the past, Souza is downright tenacious in his abilities. He's very good at shooting for takedowns, but he's also highly successful in using the clinch to throw opponents to the ground and transition to various positions that allow him to set up submissions. His physical strength also plays well with his improving striking, and we may yet see a day when Souza becomes a knockout threat.

I don't see this fight ending well for Villasenor. He'll have to worry constantly about the takedown, and that'll more than likely affect his stance and striking in this fight. He isn't exactly an accomplished wrestler or grappler, and I find it hard to believe he'll hold his own against Souza's strength. Look for Souza to plant Villasenor on his back and work his way to a submission rather quickly.

With the victory, Souza should probably sit at the top of the weight class in line for a title shot. Against whom? We don't know, and it'll probably involve some sort of fight to crown a new middleweight champion when Jake Shields makes his way to the UFC after his contract expires. I suppose Dan Henderson or Robbie Lawler make sense as fighters who could be thrown into the mix.