Ronaldo Souza is officially a free agent.
After eight years of Octagon competition, the Brazilian was released from his UFC contract this week following a submission defeat to Andre Muniz back on May 15 in Houston, Texas, the fourth straight loss for the 41 year-old “Jacare.”
That’s according to a report from Sherdog.com.
Souza (26-10, 1 NC) was able to scratch and claw his way all the way up to No. 2 in the middleweight rankings, but lost his chance to compete for the division title after dropping a split decision to Yoel Romero at UFC 194 back in late 2015.
Subsequent losses to Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum booted him from “the mix” for good.
Souza rose to prominence on the international circuit back in 2008, colliding with Gegard Mousasi and Jason “Mayhem” Miller as part of the DREAM middleweight grand prix. A run in Strikeforce would soon follow — along with the promotion’s 185-pound strap — before UFC scooped him up in early 2013.
With a broken arm keeping him sidelined for the remainer of 2021, “Jacare” has plenty of time to plot his next move.