UFC Fight Night: Souza vs. Mousasi

Ronaldo Souza (20-3) vs. Gegard Mousasi (35-4-2)

Ronaldo Souza looks to continue a hot streak, while also avenging a loss six years ago as he takes on Gegard Mousasi at Friday's UFC Fight Night.

Souza has been on a roll as of late, as he has won six consecutive fights. In his most recent match against Francis Carmont, he won by way of unanimous decision. Souza's biggest strength in the octagon is his versatility, as he has won his past six matches in five different ways. He is able to fight in any style of match, and that could play a huge role on Friday. Mousasi is also coming into this fight off a win, defeating Mark Munoz in convincing fashion. In that fight, he defeated Munoz by way of rear-naked choke. Before that fight, he lost a very competitive battle against Lyoto Machida. These two fighters are currently ranked in the top-seven of the middleweight class, and a win could catapult them even closer to a championship fight. While Mousasi is coming off a nice victory against Munoz, SOUZA is simply on too big of winning streak, and will take care of business on Friday night.

"Jacare" Souza has 20 victories in his career, and is as good of a submission artist as there is in the sport. Fourteen of his 20 victories are by way of submission, and he also has four wins by decision and two wins by knockout. His biggest advantage is his grappling, where he averages 3.64 takedowns, compared to only 1.52 for Mousasi. In the first fight against Mousasi six years ago, Souza was knocked out by way of kick. In that fight, Souza was unable to take him to the ground, which is something that he will have to do to get the win. Mousasi has a takedown defense percentage of only 55 percent. If Souza is able to take the fight to the ground, it will be over quickly. However, if the 34-year-old Brazilian is unable to take the fight to the ground, then he will be in trouble.

Mousasi has 35 victories in his career, with 19 of them coming by way of knockout. However, he also has 11 wins by way of submission and five wins by decision, which shows his versatility and cardio. Mousasi will have a big advantage when it comes to striking, landing 3.5 significant strikes per minute. He will have a significant edge against Souza, who averages only 2.2. Mousasi is a brawler that is both quick with his strikes, but he also possesses potent knockout power. He lands a significantly higher percentage of his strikes (50%) than his opponent (41%), and if he is able to control the fight like he did last time, then he has a chance to get the victory. However, it will be much more difficult, as Souza is not the 23-year-old inexperienced fighter he was at the time.