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Former Strikeforce Champ, UFC Veteran ‘Jacare’ Souza Retires from MMA



Ronaldo Souza is walking away from mixed martial arts at the age of 41.

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“Jacare” announced his retirement in an interview with Combate. Souza ends his career with a 26-10 record that included a middleweight championship in Strikeforce and a stint in the UFC where he was one of the division’s top contenders.

“I've fought a lot, I retired from jiu-jitsu very early, I think I've fought a lot of MMA and I have no intention of fighting again,” Souza said. “It's really over. I'm retiring from MMA, and I'm returning to the sport that I made history, the sport I really like.

“I'm going back to training and, who knows, I'll go back to competing [in jiu-jitsu]. I'm challenge-driven, and jiu-jitsu for me is becoming a challenge, because it's very evolved, there's a lot of new stuff. It's beautiful to see.”

Souza exits the sport on the heels of a loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262 in which he suffered a badly broken arm. “Jacare” had fallen on hard times in recent years, winning just two of his last eight Octagon appearances dating back to April 2017.

Souza went 7-1 in Strikeforce, capturing the 185-pound belt with a five-round verdict over Tim Kennedy in August 2010. He would defend the belt once with a submission of Robbie Lawler before relinquishing the title to Luke Rockhold in September 2011. The Fusion X-Cel export was victorious in six of his first seven Octagon appearances before the slump at the end of his career. Souza owns other notable triumphs over the likes of Chris Weidman, Derek Brunson (twice), Vitor Belfort, Gegard Mousasi, Yushin Okami and Matt Lindland, to name a few.

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