Ronaldo Souza taken off UFC roster following arm break loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262
Veteran UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo Souza has been taken off the UFC roster following his arm break loss to Andre Muniz at UFC 262.
Sherdog reported that Souza’s last fight on his UFC contract was the Muniz fight, making him a free agent. He is now free to explore the free-agent market. At age 41 and coming off of four straight losses, including this horrific injury TKO loss to Muniz and a KO loss to Kevin Holland before that, the UFC deemed Souza expendable from the roster. The Brazilian now joins the likes of Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem as veteran fighters who are no longer on the UFC roster as the promotion cuts older fighters from the roster.
Souza was submitted for the first time in his legendary MMA career by Muniz on the UFC 262 prelims. “Jacare” refused to tap out to the armbar and Muniz had to snap his arm. Both men have shown incredible sportsmanship in the fallout, as Souza understands it’s part of the job and Muniz was respectful. For Souza, this is almost a passing of the torch to Muniz, who could be the next big middleweight contender in the UFC from Brazil. For many years that man was “Jacare,” but that sadly won’t be the case any longer.
Souza (26-10. 1 NC) has been competing in MMA since 2003 and he has been in the UFC since coming over from Strikeforce in 2013. Since then, “Jacare” has been one of the top middleweights in the UFC. He has an all-time record of 9-7 in the Octagon including wins over Chris Weidman, Derek Brunson, Vitor Belfort, and Gegard Mousasi. However, after losing four straight fights, the UFC believes that Souza is expendable from the roster. He is now free to pursue other options, including Bellator and overseas.
What was your favorite memory of Ronaldo Souza in the UFC?
