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Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza inks new 8-fight deal with the UFC

Published Apr. 15, 2017 2:07 a.m. ET

Damon Martin

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is a happy man heading into his fight on Saturday night against Robert Whittaker.

The multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and top ranked middleweight contender was approaching the final fight on his current deal with the UFC before the promotion inked him to a long term extension on Friday.

Souza signed a new eight fight deal with the UFC with the first bout on his contract taking place in Kansas City against Whittaker.

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Souza has put together a very impressive 7-1 record during his time with the UFC with his only loss coming in a very narrow split decision to No. 1 ranked contender Yoel Romero in a fight many scored for the Brazilian.

Since then, Souza has racked up two more wins in a row and hopes to make it three with his fight against Whittaker on Saturday night.

Souza has expressed his displeasure with the current state of the UFC's middleweight division where champion Michael Bisping defended his title against Dan Henderson last October, who was well below most of the other top contenders in the rankings before booking his next fight against Georges St-Pierre later this year.

Still, Souza clearly believes he's one of the best fighters in the world and now with a new eight fight deal in place, he'll have plenty of time to stalk down a title shot in the future.

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