Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 208: Jacare Souza Looks to Clamp Down on Title Shot

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:35 a.m. ET

Fansided, Gabriel Gonzalez/FanSided via Cage Pages

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has long been a surging contender, but he has to risk his standing in the muddled title picture this Saturday at UFC 208.

At UFC 208, fans will be eager to cheer for the Brazilian legend fighting in the co-main event but it’s actually his fellow countryman who is more likely to write the next great chapter in Brazilian MMA history. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is the consensus number two contender at middleweight and a victory would all but guarantee that he gets a fight for the belt in his next outing.

For the past several years, Jacare has evolved from a vaunted grappler to a complete mixed martial artist with knockout power. Upon entering the UFC, Souza went on an eight-fight win streak that saw him dispatch several of the division’s top contenders. At 37-years-old, Souza is in the best form of his career and his bout on Saturday against Tim Boetsch should guarantee that he gets his long-desired shot at the middleweight title.

In late 2015, Jacare met fellow top contender Yoel Romero in a title eliminator. Romero walked away with a close split decision, but the aftermath went on to muddle the crowded title picture. Romero served a suspension for a tainted supplement, and scheduling resulted in Michael Bisping getting the next title shot against Luke Rockhold as a short notice replacement.

Souza rebounded from the loss to Romero with a resounding victory over Vitor Belfort and looked as if he would be next in line at 185. Instead, an injury incurred during the bout led to him being unable to step up on short notice for a title shot a month later.

Circumstances affected Jacare’s case again in November when Luke Rockhold pulled out of their scheduled main event in Australia. The bout was scheduled to occur shortly after Romero’s high profile bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 205. The general thinking was that the most impressive winner between Jacare/Rockhold and Romero/Weidman would be the fighter who received the next bout against current champion Bisping.

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Instead, Romero was given the title shot by default and Jacare has been left to risk his place in the division by taking another fight as the championship picture is sorted out. Waiting is not an option as Jacare has not fought since May and the fight between Bisping and Romero has not even been scheduled yet for 2017.

The circumstances are disappointing as Souza has looked fantastic in his UFC career. Since his debut in 2012, eight of his nine victories have come by either knockout or submission and it is arguable that he has been more impressive than Romero in that span.

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Ahead of UFC 208 there is no sign that he is taking the fight lightly as he has been prominently featured training alongside MMA legend Anderson Silva. Against Tim Boetsch, he is facing a journeyman who is currently rebounding from a rough stretch in his career. Once a promising contender, “The Barbarian” is currently 2-3 in his last five fights and is not ranked inside the top ten. A win over Souza is a huge opportunity to regain relevancy in the stacked middleweight division.

For Jacare, a dominant run does not change the fact that at 37-years-old, time is not on his side to have a long reign if he wins UFC gold. The top of the division is loaded with talented and explosive martial artists like Romero, Rockhold, Whittaker, and others. The Brazilian may have found the fountain of youth in the world’s largest promotion, but father time is undefeated and Souza is more than likely closer to the end of his prime than the beginning.

Jacare appears to be well-prepared for one of the riskiest fights of his career. With his best chance to win championship gold at stake, only Saturday night will tell if Souza will clamp down on a title shot.