On Tuesday, Ronaldo Souza, better known as “Jacare,” announced his retirement at age 41. The longtime middleweight had become a staple in the UFC, and a popular favorite among fans — not to mention his time as Strikeforce middleweight champion.

Souza (26-10, 1NC) confirmed his decision to Brazilian outlet Combate. He had been mired in a four-fight slump, and had his arm broken by Andre Muniz in his last outing, at UFC 262.

Prior to that skid, Souza had been trading wins and losses, dropping fights to ex-champ Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum, while earning wins against Derek Brunson and another former champ, Chris Weidman.

Souza signed with the UFC in 2013, after his former home, Strikeforce, was absorbed by the promotion. He won his first five UFC fights prior to running into Yoel Romero. During his run inside the octagon, Jacare earned seven post-fight bonuses, including three back-to-back-to-back in 2018 alone.

The highlight of his career, however, was arguably his Strikeforce title win. Souza won the belt against Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Houston in 2010, and defend the belt a year later against “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. Later that same year, he’d lose the strap to Luke Rockhold.

While confirming his retirement from fighting, Souza has left the door open for a return to jiu-jitsu competition. For good reason: 14 of his 26 wins have come via submission.

The post UFC Contender, Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Jacare Souza Retires appeared first on Cageside Press.

Like it or not, weight-cutting is deeply rooted in mixed martial arts. MMA adopted its weight-cutting from the sport of wrestling, where it is presumed to be very advantageous to be the biggest and strongest in your weight class. Known as the ‘fight before the fight,’ most UFC fighters cut anywhere from 5-25 pounds, with some fighters even in excess of 30 pounds.

Weight-cutting is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower. Many fighters in the sport consider it very unprofessional to miss weight. In this series, we will shine a light on fighters who cut a massive amount of weight, who have missed weight multiple times in the past, who have made weight-class changes, along with how the weight-cut and weigh-in could affect possible upcoming match-ups. Basically, every aspect of weight-cutting and how it affects the fight game.

Cutting weight is completely unhealthy and leaves the body’s immune system more susceptible to contracting a virus or infectious disease. With the current COVID-19 pandemic affecting the entire world, these fighters will be putting themselves in extremely vulnerable positions not just the night of the fight, but on weigh-in day. And the days leading up to it as well. A special note for one half of the main event, Tony Ferguson, for cutting weight for the original fight date on April 18th. Ferguson was originally slated to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight championship before the entire world fell apart due to the coronavirus. Tony proceeded to cut weight anyways, showing both his opponent and future opponents that he is truly always game and ready to go. This early weight cut could potentially have a negative effect on his performance at UFC 249 as Ferguson’s two weigh-ins are just 20 days apart.

https://twitter.com/TonyFergusonXT/status/1251230127272280064?s=20

The post The Weight Cutting Chronicles: UFC 249 appeared first on Cageside Press.

UFC Fort Lauderdale is upon us. Going down in Fort Lauderdale (Sunrise, FL to be exact), middleweight finishers Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Jack Hermansson headline the card. This bout was originally Paulo Costa squaring off with Yoel Romero, but both men eventually pulled out and were replaced by Souza and Hermansson, respectively. With the late-notice Hermansson apparently not having enough name value for ESPN’s liking, this event got moved from TV to the streaming service, but the rest of the slate is strong. Mike Perry and Alex Oliveira will bang it out. So, too, will bantamweight up-and-comer Cory Sandhagen and John Lineker, that little ball of personified violence.

If you are looking for strategy tips and strong fantasy plays in your UFC Fort Lauderdale DraftKings MMA lineups for this Saturday, look no further than my Daily Fantasy Knockout premium breakdown. The article includes fight-by-fight previews, picks, odds, and DraftKings fantasy plays. See who to target and who to fade in your daily fantasy lineups. And as an added bonus, I’ve started dabbling in straight betting, and my plays are included at the end of the article. There is also a sample tournament lineup with a short synopsis of how I constructed it.

To see the kind of content you’ll be getting, see this week’s Daily Fantasy Knockout podcast above and find below the link to my UFC 236 DraftKings breakdown from two weeks back. Be sure to click the link above to our DFS Hub to find my latest daily fantasy content for UFC Fort Lauderdale!

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The post UFC Fort Lauderdale DraftKings Plays: Daily Fantasy Knockout appeared first on Cageside Press.