‘Hungry’ Jacare Souza has no issues retiring if UFC title shot doesn’t come soon

For someone who has only suffered one fight inside the Octagon, Ronaldo Souza can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to getting title shots. That’s why the submission wizard says if the waiting game proves to be too much and a UFC championship bout never comes, he has no issues simply waking away from the fight game altogether.

And it’s not that he’s not motivated to fight. On the contrary, he still has the fire, but his patience is wearing thin

Oh, man, I’m motivated in fighting,” Souza said during a media scrum in Rio de Janeiro via MMA Fighting. “That doesn’t demotivate me at all. I’m motivated by the challenge that my opponent brings. The belt is the consequence. I’m a believer in God, everybody knows that,” he continued. “When I’m choosing my fight, I put a knee on the ground and ask for God to choose a fight for me, and it’s happening.”

“I’m happy to be fighting,” he continued. “But I have no problem stopping fighting. I stopped competing in jiu-jitsu in 2005 when I was at the top of my career, and if I think it’s too much for me, that I’m full of it, I can stop fighting. That’s it. I can open my own gym, make as much money as I make fighting, and be happy. I have this dream of having my own gym, so I have no problem stopping fighting.”

After getting matched up with the No. 15 ranked fighter in the division, Tim Boetsch, at UFC 208 and then subsequently making short work of him (see it), “Jacare” was hoping he’d get a title eliminator bout against either Luke Rockhold or Yoel Romero,the only man to defeat him inside the eight-walled cage.

Instead, Souza was matched up to face Robert Whittaker at the upcoming UFC on FOX 24 event on April 15 (details), despite the fact the Romero has an empty dance card because of this.

“I’m hungry to fight, to do my job,” Souza said. “That’s not something that affects me. Everybody sees I’m excited, I want fights. Unfortunately, it’s not the fight I wanted. I wanted Luke, everybody knows that. Everybody knows I asked for Romero too. I’ll tell you the truth, the only guy in the UFC I truly don’t want to fight is (Gegard) Mousasi because he’s trouble.

“I fought him, the truth is that I was in a good day, and he wasn’t in a good day, and he will show that to everyone when he fights Chris Weidman. You’ll see how good Mousasi is. But the criteria with me is completely different.

And if your using the excuse that he doesn’t sell pay-per-view’s, Souza wants you to “cut the bullshit.”

At the end of the day, Souza intends to keep chugging along and hope that an impressive win over Whittaker — who is on a six-fight win streak — gets him his much-desired shot at the strap.

Or, at the very least, a foe ranked ahead of him.

For someone who has only suffered one fight inside the Octagon, Ronaldo Souza can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to getting title shots. That’s why the submission wizard says if the waiting game proves to be too much and a UFC championship bout never comes, he has no issues simply waking away from the fight game altogether.

And it’s not that he’s not motivated to fight. On the contrary, he still has the fire, but his patience is wearing thin

Oh, man, I’m motivated in fighting,” Souza said during a media scrum in Rio de Janeiro via MMA Fighting. “That doesn’t demotivate me at all. I’m motivated by the challenge that my opponent brings. The belt is the consequence. I’m a believer in God, everybody knows that,” he continued. “When I’m choosing my fight, I put a knee on the ground and ask for God to choose a fight for me, and it’s happening.”

“I’m happy to be fighting,” he continued. “But I have no problem stopping fighting. I stopped competing in jiu-jitsu in 2005 when I was at the top of my career, and if I think it’s too much for me, that I’m full of it, I can stop fighting. That’s it. I can open my own gym, make as much money as I make fighting, and be happy. I have this dream of having my own gym, so I have no problem stopping fighting.”

After getting matched up with the No. 15 ranked fighter in the division, Tim Boetsch, at UFC 208 and then subsequently making short work of him (see it), “Jacare” was hoping he’d get a title eliminator bout against either Luke Rockhold or Yoel Romero,the only man to defeat him inside the eight-walled cage.

Instead, Souza was matched up to face Robert Whittaker at the upcoming UFC on FOX 24 event on April 15 (details), despite the fact the Romero has an empty dance card because of this.

“I’m hungry to fight, to do my job,” Souza said. “That’s not something that affects me. Everybody sees I’m excited, I want fights. Unfortunately, it’s not the fight I wanted. I wanted Luke, everybody knows that. Everybody knows I asked for Romero too. I’ll tell you the truth, the only guy in the UFC I truly don’t want to fight is (Gegard) Mousasi because he’s trouble.

“I fought him, the truth is that I was in a good day, and he wasn’t in a good day, and he will show that to everyone when he fights Chris Weidman. You’ll see how good Mousasi is. But the criteria with me is completely different.

And if your using the excuse that he doesn’t sell pay-per-view’s, Souza wants you to “cut the bullshit.”

At the end of the day, Souza intends to keep chugging along and hope that an impressive win over Whittaker — who is on a six-fight win streak — gets him his much-desired shot at the strap.

Or, at the very least, a foe ranked ahead of him.