Ronaldo Souza Retires From MMA At 41 Years Old

Souza, 41, the longtime fighter, who some may argue is one of the best to ever done it, announced his retirement with Combate on Tuesday night.

“I’ve already fought too much, I’ve retired too young from jiu-jitsu, and I think I’ve fought too much in MMA and I have no plans to go back to fighting,” Souza said (translation courtesy of MMA Fighting via MMA Mania). “It’s really over. I’m retiring from MMA, and I’m going back to the sport where I made history, the sport I love too much.”

In 2010, he won the Strikeforce middleweight vacant title against Tim Kennedy via unanimous decision. After that, he successfully defended his title for the first time against veteran fighter Robbie Lawler.

But Souza’s reign came to an end when he was dethroned by Luke Rockhold who later won the UFC middleweight title.

After signing in the UFC, he won five fights in a row.

One of the fights was a rematch against another well-known fighter, Gegard Mousasi. In 2014 he avenged his loss in 2008. Yoel Romero serviced him his first-ever UFC loss via split decision.

Souza (26-10 MMA, 9-7 UFC) shared the octagon with some respected names including Vitor Belfort, Robert Whitaker, Derek Brunson, Kelvin Gastelum, Chris Weidman, Jack Harmansson, and many others in his resume.

He even fought in the light-heavyweight division against current champion Jan Blachowicz. It was the main event of UFC fight night 164. They fought all five rounds, but Blachowicz defeated Souz via split decision.

The Brazilian fighter lost his last four consecutive fights, and his final defeat was crucial. He broke his arm against Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Andre Muniz at UFC 262.

The 41-year-old is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert with a fourth-degree black belt and a black belt in judo under Henrique Machado.

In the World BJJ Championships, he has won eight gold medals and two silvers.