Jacare Souza has opened up on dealing with mental health issues.
Souza is scheduled to meet Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout on Nov. 16. The bout is set to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This will be Souza’s first fight since dropping a unanimous decision to Jack Hermansson, which cost him a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
Jacare Says Mental Health Issues Nearly Ended His Career
MMAFighting.com recently spoke to Souza, who opened up on his mental health battle.
“Man, I was thinking about stopping (fighting). I had a psychological problem, I was burned out. I would drive to the gym and cry in the car and say, ‘Man, what am I doing going to the gym?’ My wife found a psychologist for me, I’m working on that once a week, and that has helped me a lot. I’m super happy with the opportunity of going back to fighting, I’m happy and excited and training like never before. There are a lot of good things happening in my life. Three months ago, I was crying on my way to the gym, tears would come out of my eyes and I didn’t know why. ‘What am I doing, man? I’ll stop fighting, I don’t want this for my life.’ And all of a sudden things were new again. I have the opportunity to headline a card, I’m excited again, I’m training, you know? ‘Dede’ Pederneiras has been phenomenal, he’s helped me a lot as well. I have no words for him. I already admired him before and now that we’re working together I admire him even more.”
MMA News will continue to provide you updates on the UFC Sao Paulo card. Of course when fight night arrives, we’ll be bringing you live results, highlights, and post-fight tidbits.
