UFC Sao Paulo gets headliner as Jacare Souza moves up in weight
Light heavyweight looks like the new middleweight these days as everyone seems to be making the transition.
The latest 185-pounder staple to do so is Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
Brazil’s Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (26-7), a former Strikeforce champion, has been among the middleweight division’s elite for the latter half of his fantastic career. However, that will change come November 16.
ESPN has confirmed that the career-long 185-pounder will make his 205-pound debut in the UFC Sao Paulo main event opposite top divisional contender, Jan Blachowicz (24-8).
Jacare made his UFC debut in 2013 as part of the Strikeforce merger and immediately got off to a hot start by winning five consecutive bouts (three submissions, one TKO). Thus extending his win streak at the time to eight in a row.
Since then, the BJJ master has gone 4-4 inside the Octagon earning and suffering losses to only the very best his division has to offer. His last outing coming in April when he lost a unanimous decision to the rising contender from Norway, Jack Hermansson.
As for his next opponent in Poland’s former KSW champion, Blachowicz, he is fresh off of a big second-round knockout of former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight king, Luke Rockhold, at UFC 239 in July.
The win acted as Blachowicz’s rebounding off of a four-fight streak snapping loss to recent title challenger, Thiago Santos. Following the Rockhold win, there was the discussion that Blachowicz could be the next man in line to face the current reigning champion, Jon Jones.
A win for either man would put them that much closer to what would be their first career UFC title shot.
As the UFC’s return to Brazil is still in its infancy, the card is still shaping up. Here are the other fights currently lined up.
- Light Heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz vs. Jacare Souza
- Flyweight: Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira
- Middleweight: Kevin Holland vs. Antonio Arroyo
- Light Heavyweight: Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Trevor Smith
- Featherweight: Duda Santana vs. Leah Letson
- Welterweight: James Krause vs. Sérgio Moraes
- Lightweight: Francisco Trinaldo vs. Bobby Green
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The Scrap’s Drake Riggs is a MMA writer and YouTuber based out of Brush Prairie, Washington who specializes in feature pieces, the women’s fight scene, lists, news coverage, and rankings. Riggs has been a passionate MMA fan since 2009 and has written for various news sources. You can follow him on Twitter (@Dre_Kriggs).
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