Ronaldo Souza is dealing with the devastating feeling of a loss.
“Jacare” was defeated by Kelvin Gastelum by split decision at the UFC 224 pay-per-view event on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This bout served as the co-main event of the show.
Typically, the older a fighter gets then the closer he gets to end of his career. However, in Souza’s position, that’s not the case as he’s near the top of the middleweight division right now and is considered a title contender.
Souza had been on the cusp of a UFC title shot but suffered a TKO loss to current middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in his bout last April.
Moving along to the main event of UFC on FOX 27 (UFC Charlotte) on Saturday, January 27, 2018, at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on big FOX, Souza scored a devastating knockout victory over Brunson in the first round, which many thought might be able to push him closer to a title shot.
Obviously, now, he’s back to the drawing board after losing at UFC 224. The former Dream and Strikeforce middleweight champion reacted to the loss at the post-fight press conference.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Souza said through a translator (via MMA Fighting). “I’m at home, I’m here in Brazil. The whole crowd was behind me. I’m very, very sad to lose. It’s disappointing to me to lose here at home in the way that I lost. I should’ve done better. I should’ve cut weight better. I felt my legs and that made it very complicated.”
“It was my fault I lost, it happens. Kelvin had a good game plan, he was doing well in the fight, we had a great fight, but I lost. And I want everyone to know that I did everything I could to win. I really wanted to win this fight.”
“I’m very healthy. I always cut weight pretty well, but this time I jumped rope a bit too much because there was no sauna in the hotel,” he explained. “So I jumped too much rope and that’s why I think I felt my legs because of that, but that was it. There are things that happen. We had a great fight and that’s what matters.”
Where do you think Souza goes from here and who he should fight next? Sound off in the comment section below.
