Remember when some viewed Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza as the best middleweight in MMA? Yeah, me neither.
But there was a collective group that saw the Brazilian in that role.
At UFC 262 Saturday night, Souza will not be competing for that title. Or the UFC title for that matter.
He’ll be fighting for his job.
Against Andre Muniz.
That is exactly what has become of the former Strikeforce champion and now 41-year-old after three consecutive losses.
Overall, Souza is just 2-5 in his last seven, including losses to Robert Whittaker, Kelvin Gastelum and Kevin Holland. The Holland setback came in December and was a knockout loss.
Six years ago, Souza was primed as a contender with a record of 22-3 and coming off wins over Gegard Mousasi, Yushin Okami and others.
But a split decision loss to Yoel Romero halted his assault up the division. Souza rebounded with a finish of Vitor Belfort and a submission victory vs. Tim Boetsch before the loss to Whittaker.
A 2018 knockout of Derek Brunson gave many hope that he was returning to his old ways, just like the finish of Chris Weidman later that year.
But it has been all downhill since.
Will that stop Saturday night vs. Muniz?
We shall see.
