So of all the many interesting fights coming up this weekend, I'd have to say I'm most looking forward to seeing Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. It's a classic matchup -- both are much hyped internet legends fighting in Japan for the second time.
Jacare has been called "the most dynamic Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom on the planet" with an impressive collection of BJJ tournament wins. He's also on an impressive seven fight win streak -- all by submission or TKO in the first round.
Jacare says he's ready for whatever Mayhem brings in the fight:
Sherdog.com: Do you think Miller will go to the ground against you?
Jacare: If he keeps this fight on the feet, avoiding the ground, I am here for him. If he keeps it on the feet, this will be a favor he will do for me.
Sherdog.com: What do you think of him?
Jacare: I think he is really crazy [laughs]. And, at the same time, he is a good fighter with good endurance and good ground. I do not think he has perceivable weaknesses. His greater experience does not mean anything to me. I am very focused for this fight.
"This kid is overhyped, you know what I mean?" Miller says. "He fought a bunch of chumps, and now he thinks he's awesome. So that's cool. Whatever. But I've fought the toughest names in the business and beat many of them. … Am I expecting an easy fight? No. But at the same time, I love the fact that [people] think I'm going to get murdered because he's got a bunch of f---ing Internet Web clips of him submitting dudes. … Most ground guys, they get scared and just hold on to the guy and try to slow the fight down. I'm trying to speed it up. If I'm in a great position and I'm not finishing a guy, I will take myself into a worse position just so I can try to finish. I don't care. If he gets out, I'll deal with it. I don't want to put the crowd to sleep."
Mayhem may be a great fight hyper, but I think Jason McDonald actually does a better job of articulating the advantage that Mayhem may have over Jacare -- better MMA. He's talking about his own upcoming match against Demian Maia but I think it may apply to Miller vs Souza:
But I think we’ve seen time and time again that good mixed martial artists have been able to defeat high-level jiu-jitsu guys. Take even the other night in London, where Kevin Burns, in his first UFC fight, was able to get a triangle choke on Roan Carneiro, who is a high-level black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Maia is not like B.J. Penn who is great in jiu-jitsu but also dominant in all other facets. He is still fairly new to the MMA side of things so I’m hoping to go out there and put on a strong mixed martial arts fight and do much like what Nate Marquardt did to Dean Lister.
HT Nightmare of Battle for the pic.
[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas -