BJJ and MMA legend Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza has just been announced as the third member of the 2024 class of the ADCC Hall of Fame. Souza is actually one of only 9 men who have ever become the ADCC Superfight champion in over 25 years and had a lengthy career at the very top of professional grappling before he decided to make the transition to MMA. He reached an incredibly high level in his second combat sport too, becoming the StrikeForce middleweight world champion and enjoying an impressive run in the UFC as well.
Souza actually competed in the first edition of ADCC Trials in South America back in 2003, when he won the 88kg division and earned his place at ADCC later the same year. He was immediately successful in his debut appearance, taking home a silver medal in the 88kg division where his only loss came to fellow ADCC Hall of Famer Saulo Ribeiro. Naturally this meant that he was invited back to ADCC 2005 and he managed to do even better on his second appearance at the event.
He won the 88kg division at ADCC 2005 and even competed in the absolute division, where he earned a silver medal after his only loss came to his long-time rival Roger Gracie. He never actually entered a regular division at ADCC again, only returning at ADCC 2009 when he was invited to compete against Robert Drysdale for the vacant superfight championship. Souza won that match and returned in 2011 to defend his title, although he was unsuccessful and passed the mantle on to Braulio Estima.
This fantastic career at ADCC will see Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2024, as the third member of the class that started with Xande Ribeiro. The second inductee confirmed is Jean Jacques Machado, although there will likely be a few more revealed as the month pass. It’s a well-deserved honor as well, as Souza amassed an 11-3 ADCC record and only ever lost matches against fellow Hall of Fame inductees. All of this is made even more impressive considering the fact that Souza left professional grappling competition while he was still firmly in his athletic prime.
ADCC announced that Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza was going to be added to the ADCC Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
