Jason Da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Middleweight contender Ronaldo Souza will understand if his bout against Uriah Hall gets postponed.
Even though UFC president Dana White assures fans that the upcoming UFC 249 card will still take place no matter what, the coronavirus pandemic has put an enormous question mark on the event.
After the New York Athletic Commission declared that the card will no longer take place in the state, some MMA pundits have started to wonder if there is enough time to move the April 18 event elsewhere, and if it is even worth it to do so.
Among those is middleweight veteran Ronaldo Souza, who is scheduled to take on Uriah Hall at the card. So far, ‘Jacare’ does not know what will happen to his bout. If it were to fall through though, he understands it was for a greater reason, as frustrating and that might be.
“If they have to cancel it, they have to cancel it.” Ronaldo told Combate. “The most important thing during a pandemic is to protect the ones close to you. If it’s bad for me and it’s bad for my opponent, then it’s bad for the whole world. For the UFC, who is putting those events together. Let’s hope everything goes well.”
If his fight was confirmed to go ahead, Jacare still does not think it is time to think about getting back into title contention. After trying his hand at light heavyweight and dropping a split decision to Jan Blachowicz, Souza believes it is best to take things one step at a time right now.
“I need a lot to get a title shot, that’s the truth. I have to win this fight, that’s one step. One step. At the moment, truth is I don’t deserve it. I have to win my next fight. I’ll think about my next fight only after that.”
Souza (26-8-1 NC) lost a split decision to Blachowicz in November 2019, which put him on a two-fight skid, with a unanimous decision to Jack Hermansson prior to that. The 40-year-old’s last win happened in November 2018, when he knocked out former champion Chris Weidman.
Now, Souza is expected to take on Hall at UFC 249, on April 18, in a place yet to be determined. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight title fight between the champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and former interim title holder Tony Ferguson.