Could Tim Kennedy, Jacare Souza, Robbie Lawler, or Mayhem Miller be contenders in the UFC

Im with LA here, 2 accomplished college wrestlers, who will enjoy big time size and strength adv's over 90% of their opponents (and Carwin's has shown some pretty devastating striking power) are hard to pick against. It's like if GSP were allowed to fight 155ers.

And with both guys I'll use a Wolf argument, it's not always about who you beat, but how you look doing it. Both guys look scary out there.


As far as Jacare, I think he has shown better wrestling and striking then both Maia and Leites. I'll wait until Kennedy demolishes a couple more guys before I take Jacare off the top of the SF 185 list.

boomer sooner wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Probably not Lawler, and i guess we still need to see more of Kennedy though he has really impressed me in every fight i've seen him in.

Souza and Miller would be. I see a lot of parity beneath Anderson Silva, i can see those guys winning a fight with any of those guys in UFC's division, i could see them losing as well but they would be right there ...and there is nothing wrong with Jacare's standup, for the person who implied it was poor. His standup has looked solid in both the Lindland and Villasenor fights. Like in my opinion, Jacare would clown Demian Maia in the cage....superior standup, superior jitsu(proven in competition), better athlete and that was Silva's last fight.

I believe Maia actually beat Jacare in competition -- I could be wrong, but I'm positive I saw footage of it. I think Jacare is a stud, but I don't think his stand-up is good enough to allow a finish against Maia or Leites [I think Leites would outstrike him] and I don't think he could sub either one on the ground. It's close between these three, but I would rank Jacare third out of these three.

They have gone three times. Jacare is 2-1.

Jacare has displayed a far more well rounded skill set than Demian Maia and Thales Leites. Jacare outstruck Joey Villasenor even after he started running on fumes, and yes that says a lot because being a better than average striker is why Joey is in the game and has compiled a pretty good record over his career. Maia would not outstrike Villasonor, or probably Matt Lindland for that matter.

I'm sorry. Anybody who just makes the comp. because all three are famous jiu jitsu aces, obviously have not been present or paying attention when Jacare fights. He is a good striker, and rapidly improving. He has explosive takedowns. Strong wrestling to go along with his top shelf jiu jitsu. He's more than just a jiu jitsu player. He is pretty good and improving in all areas. Maia is not. I actually think Thales is better than Maia overall as well and i do like Demian Maia, but i like him as a one dimensional jiu jitsu player. Spider sure showed Leites a lot more respect than he did Maia,

If Jacare was in the UFC. He would show a lot more than Demian Maia struggling with Dan Miller in a backyard level kickboxing match or Thales Leites earning a title shot after taking a split from Marquardt in which Marquardt was deducted a point and still almost got the decision.

captain organic wrote:

Im with LA here, 2 accomplished college wrestlers, who will enjoy big time size and strength adv's over 90% of their opponents (and Carwin's has shown some pretty devastating striking power) are hard to pick against. It's like if GSP were allowed to fight 155ers.

And with both guys I'll use a Wolf argument, it's not always about who you beat, but how you look doing it. Both guys look scary out there.


As far as Jacare, I think he has shown better wrestling and striking then both Maia and Leites. I'll wait until Kennedy demolishes a couple more guys before I take Jacare off the top of the SF 185 list.

+1 solid post without agreeing with me

I don't disagree that Jacare is more rounded than Leites or Maia, but perception is reality and the perception of Jacare unless he KO'd people would be that of another Maia/Leites. There would be a lot of disinterested parties in a Jacare fight if he wins a bunch of UFC fights via submission. Dana wouldn't make that fight.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

I don't disagree that Jacare is more rounded than Leites or Maia, but perception is reality and the perception of Jacare unless he KO'd people would be that of another Maia/Leites. There would be a lot of disinterested parties in a Jacare fight if he wins a bunch of UFC fights via submission. Dana wouldn't make that fight.

eh, sonnen has ridden the decision train to a title shot. If Jacare went in there and beat the name guys, no matter how, I think he'd get the call. And Jacare has already shown striking skills that exceed Maia and Leites, I thought his striking looked real good(though maybe lacking some pop) vs Joey.

As long as Anderson slips in a finish here and there, all will be forgiven and the boring grappler matches will be made, and the hype machine will do its best to convince us that everything has changed and expect fireworks etc.

The funny thing is that Anderson ruins careers by not finishing guys, unlike Fedor. Cote loses his return fight, Leites does the same and is out of the UFC, and Maia is now a non-factor after being considered a top 5 MW. Lutter is the only guy he has finished in the UFC that does seem cursed.

Anderson's competition cursed just like Fedor, difference is they were ranked lower than Emelianenko's before he ever fought them and besides Forrest(another big fat nonfactor) none were ever UFC champions.