It seems as though Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza wasn’t joking when he made the claim that he would be able to make the same money as fighting for the UFC, just from teaching BJJ in his own gym. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to many when considering that Jacare is something of a legend in the sport after numerous IBJJF World Championship victories on his journey up the ranks and three at the very highest levels of the sport. It isn’t just these accomplishments, or even his gold medals at the ADCC World Championships and the one-off Superfight Championship match, that have made Jacare one of the most well-known names of the sport.
Instead, it was his epic series of matches with one of the greatest competitors to ever step foot on the mats, Roger Gracie. The pair went 2-2 over four matches that all took place in the finals of major tournaments including the ADCC World Championship final, the IBJJF European Open final and two IBJJF World Championship finals. Not content with his place among the greatest athletes of the competitive BJJ circuit, it wasn’t long before Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza took to the cage to continue his combat sports career.
Jacare first made his name in MMA by fighting for the DREAM Middleweight World Championship twice and then moving over to Strikeforce to reign as their Middleweight World Champion by beating top-tier fighters like Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, and Matt Lindland. When the UFC bought Strikeforce, Jacare made the transition perfectly by finishing all five of his first opponents, before coming up short in an incredibly close match with Yoel Romero. Since then he’s gone 4-4 but earned three performance of the night and two fight of the night bonuses along the way.
Now that he’s made the announcement on his official Instagram account that he will soon be opening a BJJ academy on Orlando, Florida, it remains to be seen whether Jacare will continue his MMA career, or retire and take on the role of coach instead.
