A pivotal matchup between two top five ranked middleweights is headed to UFC 224 as Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is set to meet Kelvin Gastelum on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The new fight was announced by UFC officials on Thursday night.
“Jacare” (25-5 with one no contest) will book his next fight after just picking up a win over Derek Brunson in January when he knocked out the top 10 ranked fighter in the first round. The victory put Souza back on track after he suffered a knockout loss of his own last year when facing Robert Whittaker just one fight before he became middleweight champion.
Souza bounced back with a statement victory and now he’s hoping to put his name back into title contention as he prepares to make his return in May while fighting at home in Brazil.
As for Gastelum (14-3 with one no contest), he is coming off a first round knockout of his own after blasting former middleweight champion Michael Bisping in their fight this past November in China. Gastelum now stands at 4-1 at middleweight with his one no contest coming from his last trip to Brazil when he earned a TKO win over Vitor Belfort that was later overturned by the athletic commission.
Gastelum tested positive for marijuana after his win and the Brazilian commission issued a suspension, a fine and ultimately took away the victory. Following that incident, Gastelum vowed that he would never compete in Brazil again but now just three fights later he’ll return there with hopes of solidifying a spot at the top of the rankings with a win against “Jacare”.
“Jacare” vs. Gastelum is the latest addition to the UFC 224 card in Brazil with more bouts expected to be announced in the coming weeks. As of now, no main event has been confirmed for UFC 224 although there have been rumors that a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington could be featured on the card, although there’s been no official confirmation about that matchup yet.
What do you think about Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 224? Who wins? Let us know in the comments.
No. 1 contender match?@JacareMMA meets @KelvinGastelum at #UFC224 in Rio!
? https://t.co/tUT6UQSO5k pic.twitter.com/ac7Y1dmuTM
— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2018
