Jacare Souza becomes the latest to join the middleweight exodus towards 205-pounds

The face of the UFC’s 185-pound frame is in something of a state of flux at the moment.

Robert Whittaker, the division’s champion, has been regularly inactive since he earned the belt while the two previous titleholders, Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping, have both retired from the sport. Luke Rockhold, another former middleweight champion, has already made his debut at 205-pounds while Yoel Romero has also spoken of one day competing at light heavyweight.

And now you can add Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza to that ever-expanding list. The Brazilian submission expert, 39, was recently defeated by Jack Hermansson and after 13 UFC fights as a middleweight, has opted to continue his career at 205-pounds. His debut will come in Sao Paulo in November against Jan Blachowicz — the man who handed Rockhold a knockout defeat on his own maiden voyage at light heavyweight. News of the booking was first reported by ESPN.

View this post on Instagram

Hoje foi dia de preparação física! Seguimos em frente! 👊🏼 #RonaldoJacaré 🐊

A post shared by Ronaldo “Jacaré” 🐊 Souza (@ronaldojacare) on Sep 10, 2019 at 4:09pm PDT

Blachowicz has won five of his last six in the UFC with his only defeat coming to recent title challenger Thiago Santos. He had been touted in the press as a potential title challenger to Jon Jones in the champion’s next bout.

UFC Sao Paulo will take place on November 16 at at the Ginasio do Ibirapuera.