Ronaldo Souza

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1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 DREAM
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (born December 7, 1979) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a highly decorated Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and submission wrestler.

He stands 6 ft. (183 cm) tall and fights in the middleweight division (185 lbs.).

Souza was the 2005 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Absolute Division runner-up and the runner-up in DREAM's 2008 16-man Middleweight Grand Prix. He currently fights as a middleweight for DREAM.

His nickname, "Jacare" is a type of alligator that are common in his town of birth.

Early Career

Ronaldo Souza made his professional mixed martial arts debut in Brazil at Jungle Fight 1 on September 13, 2003. He faced veteran fighter and UFC veteran, Jorge Patino and was knocked out with a punch at 3:13 of round 1.

A bit over eight months later, Souza returned to fighting and picked up his first professional victory as he made Victor Babkir submit to strikes at Jungle Fight 2.

Following the victory, Souza had 2005 off as he entered the Abu Dhabi Combat Club 2005 Submission Wrestling World Championships. Souza picked up gold in the under 88kg class defeating future UFC competitor, Demian Maia in the final. He also entered the Absolute Division and was the runner-up after being submitted by Roger Gracie with a rear naked choke.

Souza was back in mixed martial arts action in 2006 as he went three from three, submitting all of his opponents in the first round. He pushed his streak to seven in 2007 as he submitted the three opponents he faced in that year with no fight making it past the four minute mark.

DREAM

In 2008, Jacare signed with the upstart Japanese promotion, DREAM. He made his DREAM debut at DREAM 2 against MMA debutant, Ian Murphy as part of the first round of DREAM's 2008 16-man Middleweight tournament. Souza finished the overwhelmed Murphy with a rear naked choke just over three minutes into the first round.

Just under two months later at DREAM 4, Souza had the toughest test of his career to date as he faced UFC veteran, Jason "Mayhem" Miller in the quarter finals. Souza continously got the fight to the floor against Mayhem who was more than happy to go there. Jacare dominated position on the ground and pulled out a reasonably close unanimous decision win.

In September of 2008, Souza faced off against Zelg Galesic in the semi-finals of the tournament at DREAM 6. Souza wasted no time getting the fight to the mat and from there secured mount and quickly an armbar submission win.

Later that night, Souza squared off against PRIDE veteran, Gegard Mousasi for the tournament and DREAM middleweight championship. Jacare looked to be on his way to victory early as he scored a takedown and started to pass guard. Mousasi did well in securing his guard back and when Souza postured up to jump back down with a punch he was met with a devastating upkick that knocked him cold at just 2:15 of round 1.

Souza will hope to rebound from the disappointing loss at DREAM 9 on May 26, 2009 when he rematched Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the recently vacated DREAM middleweight championship.