Ronaldo Souza’s light heavyweight debut did not go as planned, as he dropped an underwhelming split decision to Jan Blachowicz in the UFC Fight Night 164 headliner on Nov. 16.
It was the third loss in four outings for the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, and it now seems that “Jacare” is already pondering a return to the weight class he has called home for the majority of his career.
“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 recently told MMAFighting.com. “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 struggled to take down the larger Blachowicz in Sao Paulo, and as a result, he was outstruck in a slow-paced, five-round bout. After the defeat, the Brazilian revealed that he battled an illness leading up to the fight.
Even at 40 years old, Souza seems willing to revisit the weight cut that he was just recently so happy to avoid in moving up to 205 pounds. For now, though, nothing is set in stone regarding the Brazilian’s future plans.
“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.”