‘Jacare’ Training In His Garage For UFC 249

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Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender, Ronaldo Souza, is planning to fight at UFC 249 on April 18. The promotion has yet to find a suitable city and venue, thanks to coronavirus restrictions, but the show must go on.

So must the training.

That’s why “Jacare” has responded to the mandatory gym closures by constructing his own facility at home, in his garage. And if you think a couple of rubber mats and a sweaty gi is hardly a “facility,” then you’ve clearly never belonged to a jiu-jitsu gym.

“We continue to train hard because we weren’t told otherwise,” head coach Josuel Distak told MMA Fighting. “The government ordered all gyms to close for two or three weeks but we have our Plan B, a gym at ‘Jacare’s’ house, a garage with mats, and we’ll keep training for those three weeks at ‘Jacare’s’ garage. We go from the hotel to his garage and straight back, and we’re being very careful.”

Souza is slotted to fight middleweight striker Uriah Hall.

The promotion was forced to postpone its next three events after the coronavirus pandemic shut down most of the country, including New York. That means any future shows that take place during the quarantine will have to happen someplace overseas.

Stay tuned.