The UFC’s latest sensation, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, is reportedly eyeing a fight at 205 pounds.
Perhaps calling him a “sensation” is slightly overzealous. He has, after all, been an MMA fighter since 2003—a former Strikeforce middleweight champion and a legendary jiu-jitsu world champion multiple times.
However, he’s been a revelation since making his UFC debut earlier this year, and is being talked of as a future contender for Chris Weidman’s crown after destroying Yushin Okami in his last fight.
That all depends on whether his friend and training partner, Anderson Silva, wrests back the title from Weidman when the pair rematch in December.
Souza told MMA Fighting that he was considering the possibility of moving up to light heavyweight, and if Silva does regain the 185-pound title, that would make perfect sense.
“That would give me more opportunities to work,” Souza said. “I’m not a big guy for 205, but I’m really strong and would do great fights in this division as well. I’ve always had this idea, I just never had the opportunity to show how ready I was for this challenge.”
The fighter added that the possibility of Silva becoming middleweight champion has nothing to do with him looking for challenges outside his natural weight division, but that it was something that was suggested to him by his coaches.
Souza has come a long way since he lost his Strikeforce title to Luke Rockhold in 2011, a fight that showed his myriad of shortcomings in the stand-up game. However, Rockhold’s star has since faded with a loss to Vitor Belfort inside the Octagon. Meanwhile, Souza has amassed an impressive five-fight winning streak, including four first-round stoppages with two coming by way of knockout.
That has thrust him into the limelight, with his much improved striking and natural grappling ability suggesting he would make a perfect challenge for Weidman.
With that in mind, talk of his move up a division is certainly premature, at least until Silva has had his day against his nemesis. If Silva loses, and Souza wins another fight at 185, there will certainly be no reason for him to move up. However, the fact that he’s already toying with the idea suggests the 33-year-old has no lack of ambitions.
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