Jason Da Silva-USA TODAY Sports
Ronaldo Souza believes he did enough to beat Jan Blachowicz at UFC Sao Paulo.
Former middleweight contender Ronaldo Souza did not have the light heavyweight debut he expect at UFC Sao Paulo’s main event. After a five-round fight that did not see that much action against Jan Blachowicz, ‘Jacare’ found himself on the wrong end of a split decision.
However, in Ronaldo’s opinion, the judges did not score the fight correctly. In the Brazilian’s opinion, he did enough to win three rounds and win the decision, but that won’t stop him from looking for his first ever win at light heavyweight.
“I won the first three rounds.” Jacare told Combate. “I don’t know about the fourth one, and I lost the fifth. I didn’t get the win, but we did a good job. I come out stronger, I got a super top guy in my first light heavyweight fight. I did a five-round fight. I won, but unfortunately I didn’t get the nod.”
During his post-fight interview, Jacare explained he was not 100% leading up to the fight. He says he was battling with a severe case of coughing only 20 days before fight night, which he had to treat with antibiotics while also doing media work at the same time.
“The UFC gave me their full support. I had told the UFC I had been coughing non-stop. That was 20 days ago, I did a bunch of tests. I did a treatment for allergies, but my doctor asked for an exam to detect something with a weird name. Monday was my last day on antibiotics, I would be in the middle of an interview and I’d start to cough and they would ask if I was coming down with something. I would say I didn’t have anything. It didn’t get in the way. I did my best to fight, but I didn’t get the win. It wasn’t a pretty fight for me or for him, but I do think I won three rounds.”
Souza (26-8-1 NC) did not have the ideal 2019. Back in April, Jacare dropped a unanimous decision to Jack Hermansson and now ends the year on a two-fight skid, after his loss to Blachowicz. The 39-year-old’s last win happened in November 2018, when he knocked out former champion Chris Weidman.