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Jacare Souza, similar to fellow-Middleweights Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, did not have the transition they expected when moving up to Light Heavyweight. While the lack of weight cut may have been beneficial, there was a clear size difference for all of them men, added to the fact that Jacare had an illness before the fight. He told MMA Fighting:
“My manager and my team are talking which weight class I’ll fight next, so there’s a lot going on here right now,” Souza said. “We’ll make a decision really soon on what’s best for us. We’re looking at staying at 205 or going back to 185.”
He added that he didn't expect Jan Blachowicz to be as big as he was, even though he trained with big men and heavyweights. He said that although he suffers cutting weight, he's still willing to make the move back to Middleweight:
“Everybody suffers cutting weight, that’s life, but I’m 40 years old,” he said. “I cut weight my entire life and maybe I was full of it, but I’m excited again, I’m happy, and I want to work. I’m still one of the top fighters of the division.”
He was the first to admit that his fight was boring and didn't go the way he expected:
“Everybody expected (Blachowicz) to go there and kill me,” Souza said with a laugh, admitting he has yet to re-watch the bout. “I thought he would come more aggressive and try to knock me out, but he didn’t take many risks to avoid going to the ground. The result wasn’t what we expected, the fight was boring, but that happens sometimes.”
He said that a full month prior, he had begun coughing and could barely sleep, eat, breathe or train properly. He said that the doctor in the United States treated it as an allergy but his doctor in Brazil revealed it was pertussis.
He hasn't used that as an excuse by any means and also revealed that he's very happy and excited to fight again and gave his timeline to return as four months. While UFC Brasilia is on March 14th, he stated no such preference for any particular event. That would, however, be a logical place to return and for him to headline a card.
Paige VanZant vs Amanda Ribas is the first fight scheduled for UFC Brasilia.
