Hermansson chews up Souza in UFC main event

Sometimes the alligator jaws chew up their prey. Sometimes the gator is the prey.

The latter was the case for much of Saturday night’s main event. Jack Hermansson got the better of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the standup and even against the Brazilian’s vaunted ground game to earn a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night headliner at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

As a result, there was no cold-blooded alligator pantomime celebration this time by the Brazilian, whose nickname means “alligator” in Portuguese.

Hermansson (20-4) won his fourth straight fight by fearlessly venturing into the danger zone of grappling against Souza, a five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion who is one of the most masterful practitioners of ground fighting in MMA. He took down Souza in the first round and threatened a guillotine choke, and he spent much of Round 2 on top of Souza, landing punches from full guard.

This is uncommon against Jacare.

Souza (26-7, 1 NC), who had been promised a middleweight title shot, found a second wind in the next round and appeared to be turning the tide. But Hermansson re-took control for the championship rounds, as two judges scored the fight 48-47 in his favor and one had it 49-46.