UFC Fight Night 150: Jacaré vs. Hermansson | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Dana Black
- May 21
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 150: Jacaré vs. Hermansson took place on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida — broadcast live on ESPN+, ESPN, and ESPN2 as ESPN+ 8. The card drew 12,754 fans for a gate of $1,209,654.09. The event had originally been planned for American Airlines Arena in Miami. The main event was a middleweight title-eliminator bout between Ronaldo Souza and Jack Hermansson.
Hermansson defeated Souza by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47x2) in one of the year’s most significant individual upsets — grappling the submission specialist on the ground for five rounds. Mike Perry and Alex Oliveira earned Fight of the Night. Glover Teixeira and Jim Miller earned Performance of the Night. Greg Hardy earned his first UFC victory. Cory Sandhagen defeated John Lineker by split decision. Gilbert Burns submitted Mike Davis.
Sunrise Florida — Hermansson’s Grappling Upset
BB&T Center holds approximately 20,000. The 12,754 attendance for the Sunrise card was a commercially solid Fight Night result for a Florida market. Hermansson was a 31-year-old Stockholm, Sweden middleweight who had gone 18-3 professionally before Sunrise, with his UFC career producing wins over Cezar Ferreira, Brad Scott, David Branch, Thales Leites, and Jaromir Zmrzly. His Sunrise opponent, Ronaldo Souza ‘Jacaré’, was the UFC’s most decorated submission specialist at middleweight, with a career built on Brazilian jiu-jitsu from guard and half-guard positions.
The pre-fight narrative had established Hermansson as a competitive but dangerous challenger: capable on the ground, capable standing, but facing an opponent whose submission quality from disadvantaged positions was unmatched in the division’s history. Hermansson’s tactical choice to grapple with Jacaré — to fight the submission specialist at his own game — was commercially described as either extremely confident or extremely bold. The five-round result validated the boldness.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, April 27, 2019 (ESPN+ 8; originally planned for American Airlines Arena Miami; moved to BB&T Center Sunrise)
📍 Venue: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
👥 Attendance: 12,754
💰 Gate: $1,209,654.09
📺 Broadcast: ESPN+, ESPN, ESPN2 (ESPN+ 8)
🏆 Main Event: Ronaldo Souza (‘Jacaré’) vs. Jack Hermansson — MW Title Eliminator (Souza = UFC’s most decorated MW submission specialist; Hermansson unranked entering)
✅ Result: Hermansson def. Souza via Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) (MAJOR UPSET; Hermansson grappled Jacaré and WON! Hermansson now #1 MW contender)
Main Event: Hermansson Grapples Jacaré to a Stunning Decision
Souza’s submission game operates from specific positions: half-guard, guard, and scramble transitions where his BJJ chain from inferior positions produces tap-outs despite being on the bottom. Hermansson’s preparation had clearly modelled these scenarios: in round one, he attempted a deep guillotine choke of Souza after a combination — attacking from the top in a submission exchange against a BJJ specialist. He also chose to work in Souza’s guard in the opening round rather than avoiding the ground entirely.
The five-round decision was comprehensive enough for a 49-46 margin from one judge and 48-47 from the other two. Hermansson’s grappling control, takedown attempts, and ground-and-pound volume outscored Souza’s defensive efforts from bottom positions. The result was commercially described across MMA media as one of the most tactics-validating individual performance upsets in MW history: a fighter who chose the submission specialist’s preferred terrain and won there.
Teixeira’s Rally PoN, Miller’s Career Bonus, Perry’s FotN & The Card
Jim Miller’s rear-naked choke of Jason Gonzalez at 2:12 of round one earned Performance of the Night and extended his UFC LW bonus record — the most UFC fight night bonuses in LW divisional history at the time. Miller was a 35-year-old Whippany, New Jersey LW who had been competing in the UFC since 2008. His Sunrise RNC of Gonzalez was one of his career’s latest individual submission wins. Mike Perry and Alex Oliveira’s Fight of the Night welterweight exchange — 65 significant strikes for Perry, 48 for Oliveira — produced the card’s most action-volume individual contest.
Full Results
Main Card (ESPN+/ESPN/ESPN2)
Jack Hermansson def. Ronaldo Souza — Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47x2) — MW (5 rounds; MAJOR UPSET; grappled Jacaré; guillotine attempt R1; Hermansson = new #1 MW contender)
Greg Hardy def. Dmitrii Smoliakov — TKO (punches) — R1, 2:15 — HW (HARDY’S 1ST UFC WIN; after DQ loss to Crowder at FN143 January 2019)
Mike Perry def. Alex Oliveira — Unanimous Decision (29-28x3) — WW (FotN $50k each; 65 vs 48 sig strikes; both rocked multiple times; Perry 59% sig strike accuracy vs Oliveira 35%)
Cory Sandhagen def. John Lineker — Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) — BW (Sandhagen building BW career; Lineker top-5 BW; close fight)
Roosevelt Roberts def. Thomas Gifford — Unanimous Decision (30-27x3) — LW
Preliminary Card (ESPN / ESPN+)
Takashi Sato def. Ben Saunders — TKO (punches and elbows) — R2, 1:18 — WW
Augusto Sakai def. Andrei Arlovski — Split Decision (28-29, 29-28x2) — HW (Sakai career build; Arlovski career decline continues)
Carla Esparza def. Virna Jandiroba — Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28x2) — Women’s SBW (Esparza building career; future UFC SBW champion at UFC 274 May 2022!)
Gilbert Burns def. Mike Davis — Submission (RNC) — R2, 4:15 — LW (Burns building LW career; future UFC WW title challenger!)
Jim Miller def. Jason Gonzalez — Submission (RNC) — R1, 2:12 — LW (PoN $50k; Miller career RNC; most UFC LW bonuses in divisional history!)
Angela Hill def. Jodie Esquibel — Unanimous Decision — Women’s SBW
Dhiego Lima def. Court McGee — Decision — WW
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Mike Perry + Alex Oliveira — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Glover Teixeira + Jim Miller — $50,000 each
Records & Milestones
• Hermansson’s UD win over Jacaré was MW’s most surprising grappling upset result in the division’s ESPN+ era.
• Jim Miller’s Sunrise RNC extended his record as the UFC LW division’s most bonus-earning individual fighter.
• Greg Hardy’s Sunrise TKO was his first UFC victory after the FN143 DQ loss to Allen Crowder.
Legacy & Impact
Gilbert Burns’ Sunrise LW win was one of his final LW appearances before his 2019 move to welterweight that produced consecutive WW wins and a title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 258 in February 2021. Carla Esparza’s Sunrise win continued a SBW career that produced the UFC SBW Championship at UFC 274 in May 2022 against Rose Namajunas. Cory Sandhagen’s close Sunrise win over Lineker was his toughest UFC challenge to that point — a competitive 3-round decision over a top-5 BW.
FAQ
What made Hermansson vs. Jacaré such a significant upset?
Souza was the UFC’s most historically successful submission specialist at MW — with a Strikeforce MW Championship and multiple UFC title fight appearances. His submission game from guard and half-guard had produced tap-outs against elite opponents throughout his career. Hermansson’s choice to grapple with Souza — to compete on the ground against the submission specialist — rather than keep it standing was the tactical decision that most media described as the fight’s defining competitive story. His five-round decision validated the approach.
What was Teixeira’s comeback from shaky legs?
What was Jim Miller’s bonus significance?
Miller was a 35-year-old Whippany, New Jersey LW who had competed in the UFC since 2008. His Performance of the Night bonuses across his career had produced the highest individual LW bonus total in divisional history. His Sunrise RNC of Gonzalez — a 26-year-old Nicaraguan LW making his UFC debut — was among his career’s most straightforward individual submission wins: clean back control into RNC at 2:12 of round one. His bonus record at this stage was the most of any active LW in the division’s history.
What was Greg Hardy’s first win significance?
Hardy had made his UFC debut at FN143 in Brooklyn in January 2019, where he was disqualified for an illegal knee against Allen Crowder in round two. His Sunrise TKO of Smoliakov at 2:15 of round one was his first official UFC win. Hardy’s NFL background — former Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys defensive end — and his domestic violence legal history maintained his status as one of the UFC’s most commercially controversial figures. His Sunrise win was a competitive validation of his HW potential while the public debate around his UFC presence continued.
What was the Perry vs. Oliveira exchange?
Perry landed 65 significant strikes at 59% accuracy; Oliveira landed 48 significant strikes at 35% accuracy. Both fighters were rocked multiple times across three rounds. Perry’s Florida origin — he trains in Coconut Creek, Florida — gave the Sunrise crowd a local connection. Oliveira’s Brazilian forward-pressure style produced competitive exchanges in all three rounds. Perry’s 29-28 unanimous decision was the result of his higher accuracy and his ability to land cleaner individual shots despite absorbing Oliveira’s volume.
What was Cory Sandhagen’s Lineker win significance?
Lineker was a 26-year-old Brusque, Brazil bantamweight who had won 6 of his last 7 UFC fights with 5 finishes — one of the division’s most dangerous active knockout threats. Sandhagen’s 29-28 split decision over Lineker — a close fight that Lineker appeared to win at moments — demonstrated Sandhagen’s competitive quality against elite BW opposition. His subsequent BW career built on this result, producing wins over Raphael Assuncao, Frankie Edgar, and Marlon Moraes.
References
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