Who will win Saturday’s Chris Weidman vs. Jacare Souza fight?
Sean Covington, MMATorch Contributor
If Jacare Souza managed to beat Weidman he would just stay where he is in the division, I don’t seem him moving up to face the elite of the division again. Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker both have a win over him, no way he’s improved enough to make a second fight something that people would see go his way. Chris Weidman’s win over Kelvin Gastelum was essential in Weidman remaining with the UFC however, Weidman is not in the clear, that three fight losing streak was very telling of how the fight game may have passed him by. I don’t think Weidman has what it takes to go any further in the division but I’m thinking Chris Weidman squeaks this one out in a paint by numbers fight with no real excitement.
Chris Bishop, Columnist – Bishop’s Breakdown
This is going to be a tough fight to call between these two top middleweight fighters. I expect Souza to try to keep this fight standing while Weidman tries to utilize his wrestling to get it down to the ground where he can pound on Souza and try and get a finish. I think that is where the fight will end up. I see Weidman taking down Souza time and time again with Souza attempting to use his jiu-jitsu to find a submission. I don’t think he will find that submission and the optics of Weidman dominating in top control will give him the decision victory.
Frank Hyden, Columnist – The Good the Bad and the Ugly
I’m leaning towards Jacare because I think he can use his grappling well during this fight. I think Weidman’s aggression definitely poses a problem, but Jacare’s striking is good enough to slow him down from wanting to charge forward. If Souza is able to get the fight to the ground I think he can do some real damage and win by decision or late submission. I think the fight goes to decision but both men have the capability to end the fight late. I give Jacare the slight edge here so I think he pulls it off.
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Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch Managing Editor
Both Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza have a recent common opponent in Kelvin Gastelum. Weidman was able to submit Gastelum while Jacare dropped a split decision. By that logic, Weidman should take this fight, but I still like Jacare. Weidman hasn’t fought since that July 2017 bout with Gastelum while Jacare has fought twice this year – the close loss to Gastelum and an early KO of Derek Brunson. I don’t expect Jacare to be able to handle Weidman on the ground in the way he’d like to, but I do think that he can outbox Weidman enough and maybe even score a late round TKO.
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