After his most recent UFC outing, a loss to Andre Muniz, longtime middleweight contender Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, noted for his grit and known as a gifted Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, has retired from mixed martial arts four months before his 42nd birthday. Souza (26-10, 1 NC MMA, 9-7 UFC) was the Strikeforce middleweight champion for over a year from 2010 to 2011. He was regularly near the top of the UFC’s middleweight heap over the course of the 2010s. Despite never earning a title opportunity within the promotion, he was a serious contender and holds victories over current and former MMA champions like Chris Weidman, Vitor Belfort, Gegard Mousasi, and Robbie Lawler. His KO victory over Weidman, which occurred in the co-main event of UFC 230 in 2018, was the last win of Souza’s career.

Souza lost his last four fights prior to departing the UFC. After dropping a reasonably close decision against Jack Hermansson that might have finally gotten him to the belt if he had won, he tried his luck at 205 pounds and lost a split decision in a five-rounder against Jan Blachowicz. Unfortunately, he was forced to the sidelines during the events of 2020 as a consequence of COVID-19, which caused a scheduled UFC 249 bout with Uriah Hall to be scrapped. When he finally returned in December, the red-hot Kevin Holland was waiting for him. After the aforementioned defeat to Andre Muniz, during which Souza suffered a broken arm, his UFC contract expired.

Souza hinted that he might continue competition in the form of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. After a long and decorated fight career, he has confirmed that his MMA retirement is unconditional and that he will not fight again. The legendary toughness of Souza might again be on display if he returned to some form of competition; he allowed Roger Gracie to break his arm in 2004 during a jiu-jitsu competition because he knew he was ahead on points. Refusing to submit to the injury, he then won the 2004 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. If that isn’t indicative of the type of competitor Souza is, nothing is.