Souza Contemplates Return To Middleweight

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Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran, Ronaldo Souza, was expecting to renew the lease on his combat sports life by abandoning his 185-pound weight cut. Unfortunately, his “boring” light heavyweight debut opposite Jan Blachowicz at UFC Sao Paulo kept him in the loss column.

That’s why “Jacare” isn’t ruling out a return to middleweight.

“My manager and my team are talking which weight class I’ll fight next, so there’s a lot going on here right now,” Souza told MMA Fighting. “We’ll make a decision really soon on what’s best for us. We’re looking at staying at 205 or going back to 185.”

Souza (26-8, 1 NC) is 5-5 over his last 10 and turns 40 in just a few days. There isn’t a whole lot of time left for the submission-savvy Brazilian to get his name back into the middleweight title hunt, where he was previously ranked No. 8.

“Everybody suffers cutting weight, that’s life, but I’m 40 years old,” he said. “I cut weight my entire life and maybe I was full of it, but I’m excited again, I’m happy, and I want to work. I’m still one of the top fighters of the division.”

Despite his loss to Blachowicz, Souza debuted at No. 15 in the light heavyweight rankings.