Ronaldo de Souza - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed Jacaré

Yacare Caiman

The Yacare caiman is a species of caiman found in central South America, including northeastern Argentina, Uruguay eastern Bolivia, central/south-west Brazil, and the rivers of Paraguay...

, is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

, submission grappler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

practitioner. Souza is the former Strikeforce middleweight champion and currently ranked as the #4 middleweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly. He holds notable wins over Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy is an American ice hockey forward who plays for the Florida Panthers organization of the National Hockey League.-Playing career:...

, Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler

Robert Glen "Robbie" Lawler is an American mixed martial artist Lawler was the EliteXC middleweight champion before EliteXC filed for bankruptcy. Lawler has recently signed with Strikeforce. He is a member of Team Hughes fighting out of H.I.T...

, Matt Lindland

Matt Lindland

Matthew James Lindland is an American mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 52 seat on May 20, 2008....

and Jason 'Mayhem' Miller.

Biography

Souza started training Judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

when he was 17. He is a 5-time World Jiu-Jitsu Champion, including gold medals in the Openweight class in 2003, 2004 and 2005. His other credentials include the 2005 77–87 kg ADCC

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

The ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship is a competition involving professional athletes who have been successful at the highest levels of jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, sambo, shooto and mixed martial arts...

Champion and the 2005 ADCC

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

Absolute Division runner-up, only losing to Roger Gracie

Roger Gracie

Roger Gracie Gomes is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist. Roger was awarded his black belt by his cousin Renzo Gracie at the behest of Carlos Gracie, Jr. whilst training in New York in 2003. He is currently a second degree black belt...

who outweighed him by approximately 25 lbs. Along with Roger Gracie and Marcelo Garcia, Jacaré is widely considered to be among the greatest BJJ practitioners of all time. In 2008 he was runner up in Dream

DREAM (mixed martial arts)

Dream is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC...

's mixed martial arts Middleweight Grand Prix tournament, losing to Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi, born Geghard Movsesian is an Armenian-Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is fighting out of Team Jurojin in Leiden, Netherlands and is a member of Russian Red Devil Sport Club and Netherlands' Golden Glory...

in the finals.

Souza made his MMA debut on September 9, 2003 at Jungle Fights inaugural event where he lost to Jorge "Macaco" Patino

Jorge Patino

Jorge Luis Patino is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter whose career began in the 1990s. His style is focused around his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills. He is best remembered for his two epic vale tudo fights with Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons. Although he lost both fights, the pace and brutality of the fights...

by KO at 3:13 into the first round. He returned to MMA eight months later at Jungle Fight 2 securing a submission win over Victor Babkir under a minute into the first round. His next fight was in April 2006 at Jungle Fight 6 where he got his second win, defeating Alexander Schlemenko by an arm triangle choke

Arm triangle choke

Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between his or her own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, which denotes a chokehold using the legs, albeit...

submission. He went on to fight twice before the end of 2006, winning both fight by submission during the first round.

In 2006, Souza fought and drew with former UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture

Randy Couture

Randy Duane Couture is a retired American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor, a three-time former heavyweight champion, two-time former light-heavyweight champion, former interim light heavyweight champion and UFC 13 tournament winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...

in a grappling contest. After the match Souza was invited by Couture to train at his gym. Souza accepted and started training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. Souza's first fight of 2007 was on May 19 with him scoring a submission win due to strikes over veteran Bill Vucick at Gracie Fighting Championships: Evolution. He would next fight twice within a two week period on September 29 and October 13, scoring two submission wins both within the first round.

Dream

In 2008, Souza signed with Japanese MMA-promotion Dream

DREAM (mixed martial arts)

and was scheduled to participate in the 2008 Dream Middleweight Grand-Prix. In the first round of the tournament, at Dream 2 on April 29, 2008, he defeated Ian Murphy by a rear naked choke

Rear naked choke

The Rear naked choke is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. Depending on the context, the term may refer to one of two variations of the technique, either arm can be used to apply the choke in both cases...

submission in the first round. This secured him a place in the quarter-finals which took place at Dream 4 on June 15 were he fought former ICON Sport Middleweight Champion Jason "Mayhem" Miller. The fight went the distance with Souza continuously going for submissions with Miller escaping multiple rear naked choke, leglock and armbar-attempts while mounting his own offense on the feet. Souza was awarded a unanimous decision victory which secured him a place in the semi-final of the Middleweight Grand-Prix.

In the semi-finals which took place at Dream 6 on September 23, Souza defeated Zelg Galesic

Zelg Galesic

Zelg Galešić is a Croatian mixed martial artist, currently fighting in Bellator Fighting Championships. He has previously fought in Cage Rage, PRIDE, DREAM, and Hero's...

early in the first round by armbar submission. The victory earned him a place in the finals of the tournament and a shot at the Dream Middleweight Championship against Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi

that same night. In the fight Souza was knocked out early in the first round by an upkick as he attempted to dive past Mousasi's guard to land a strike of his own. After participating in the tournament, Souza left Xtreme Couture and went to San Diego to train with Saulo

Saulo Ribeiro

Saulo Ribeiro, brother of the equally famed Xande Ribeiro, is a 4th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. After earning a black belt in Judo, he began his training of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Rio De Janeiro under Royler Gracie, the son of Helio Gracie, at the famous Gracie Humaitá.Saulo received...

and Xande Ribeiro, before leaving to train with Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva

Anderson da Silva is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion and the promotion's longest reigning champion. With 14 consecutive wins, Silva holds the longest winning streak and title defense streak in UFC history...

and Andre Galvao

André Galvão

André Luis Galvão is a Brazilian grappler and professional mixed martial artist. He has won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and IBJJF Pan American Championships multiple times and has also taken third place in the 2007 ADCC World Championship at both -77 kg and openweight...

in preparation for Silva's upcoming bout with Thales Leites

Thales Leites

Thales Leites Lourenço is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current Superior Challenge middleweight champion.-Mixed martial arts:A relative newcomer to the sport, Leites made his mixed martial arts debut at Shooto Brazil in 2003, defeating Felipe Arinelli by arm-triangle choke submission...

at UFC 97

UFC 97

UFC 97: Redemption was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 18, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It broke the UFC attendance record that was set 364 days earlier in Montreal at UFC 83, by 61 people.-Preliminary card:*Light Heavyweight bout: Vinicius...

at Black House.

Souza fought in the Dream Middleweight Championship in a rematch with Jason Miller at Dream 9

Dream 9

Dream.9: Feather Weight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream on May 26, 2009...

after Gegard Mousasi vacated the title when moving up to Light Heavyweight. The fight was called a no contest due to an illegal kick to the head that opened up a gash on Souza's head.

Strikeforce

Souza made his Strikeforce debut on December 19, 2009 at Strikeforce: Evolution

Strikeforce: Evolution

Strikeforce: Evolution was a mixed martial arts event to be held by the Strikeforce on December 19, 2009 in San Jose, California at the HP Pavilion at San Jose...

with a first round submission win over Matt Lindland

Matt Lindland

, via arm triangle choke. In this fight, Souza showed a major improvement in his stand up game and striking. Souza faced Joey Villaseñor

Joey Villasenor

Joey Villaseñor is a Mexican American mixed martial arts fighter. He is a PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran, as well as the middleweight champion in King of the Cage. Joey has also fought in Showtime's EliteXC promotion and took part in PRIDE's welterweight grand prix. He currently trains...

on May 15, 2010 at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on May 15, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States at the Scottrade Center...

. He won the fight via decision, dominating the first round, being very aggressive, achieving the mount position and almost achieving the submission, but slowed down on the 2nd and 3rd round.

Souza fought Tim Kennedy on August 21, 2010 at Strikeforce: Houston for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, and won via unanimous decision. Souza then defended the belt for the first time against Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler

, on January 29, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg, was a mixed martial arts event that was held by Strikeforce on January 29, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, United States.-Background:...

.

In his second defense, Souza lost his belt against American Kickboxing Academy

American Kickboxing Academy

The American Kickboxing Academy is a martial arts gym located in San Jose, California. It is one of the pioneering schools of mixed martial arts...

fighter Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold is an American mixed martial artist. He is the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.Rockhold holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Dave Camarillo.-Early Life:...

. He lost to Rockhold via unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold is an American mixed martial artist. He is the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.Rockhold holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Dave Camarillo.-Early Life:...

| Decision (unanimous)
| Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov

Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov

Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce that served as the Heavyweight Tournament semifinals. The event aired live on Showtime. The event took place on September 10, 2011 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio....

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 14–2 (1)
| Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler

| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg, was a mixed martial arts event that was held by Strikeforce on January 29, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, United States.-Background:...

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 12–2 (1)
| Joey Villaseñor

Joey Villasenor

| Decision (unanimous)
| Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on May 15, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States at the Scottrade Center...

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 11–2 (1)
| Matt Lindland

Matt Lindland

| Submission (arm-triangle choke)
| Strikeforce: Evolution

Strikeforce: Evolution

Strikeforce: Evolution was a mixed martial arts event to be held by the Strikeforce on December 19, 2009 in San Jose, California at the HP Pavilion at San Jose...

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

Dream 9

Dream.9: Feather Weight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream on May 26, 2009...

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

Gegard Mousasi

Saitama, Saitama

' is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance...

, Japan
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 10–1
| Zelg Galesic

Zelg Galesic

Zelg Galešić is a Croatian mixed martial artist, currently fighting in Bellator Fighting Championships. He has previously fought in Cage Rage, PRIDE, DREAM, and Hero's...

Saitama, Saitama

Yokohama

Saitama, Saitama

Manaus

Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....

Manaus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

Jungle Fight Europe

Jungle Fight Europe, also known as Jungle Fight 7 was a mixed martial arts event held by Jungle Fight on December 17, 2006 at Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana, Slovenia. To date, it is the only Jungle Fight event outside of Brazil.-Results:...

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Brazil
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2–1
| Alexander Shlemenko

Alexander Shlemenko

Alexander Pavlovich Shlemenko is a Russian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight division for Bellator Fighting Championships.-Early career:...

Manaus

Jungle Fight 2

Jungle Fight 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by Jungle Fight on May 15, 2004 at May 15, 2004 in Manaus, Brazil.-Results: Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Charlie BrownGonzaga defeats Brown via Submission in round 3 at ?:??...

Manaus

Jorge Patino

| KO (punch)
| Jungle Fight 1

Jungle Fight 1

Jungle Fight 1 was the first mixed martial arts event held by Jungle Fight on September 13, 2003 at Ariau Amazon Towers Convention Center in Manaus, Brazil.-Results: Ebenezer Fontes Braga vs. Rodrigo Gripp de Sousa...

Manaus

, Brazil
|

Championships and Accomplishments

Strikeforce
Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...
- Strikeforce Middleweight Championship (One time)

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship:

ADCC 2011

Superfight Runner-up (against Braulio Estima)

ADCC 2009

Superfight Champion (against Robert Drysdale)

ADCC 2005

77 – 87kg: 1st Place

Openweight: 2nd Place

ADCC 2003

77 – 87kg: 2nd Place

ADCC 2003 Brazilian Qualifiers

77 – 87kg: 1st Place

CBJJ World Championships:

2005

Black Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

Black Belt Open Weight: 1st Place

2004

Black Belt Medium Heavy: 2nd Place

Black Belt Open Weight: 1st Place

2003

Brown Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

Brown Belt Open Weight: 1st Place

2002

Brown Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

Brown Belt Open Weight: 2nd Place

2001

Purple Belt Middle: 1st Place

Purple Belt Open Weight: 1st Place

CBJJ Pan American Championships:

2004

Black Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

Black Belt Open Weight: 1st Place

CBJJ European Championships:

2005

Black Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

Black Belt Open Weight: 2nd Place

CBJJ Brazilian Championships:

2004

Brown Belt Medium Heavy: 1st Place

BJJ World Cup:

2005

Black belt: 2nd place

2004

Black belt: 1st place

External links

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