Ronaldo Souza

Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza is one of the greatest grapplers ever to compete in MMA. A BJJ world champion and ADCC standout before he turned to fighting, he carried that world-class ground game into Strikeforce - where he won the middleweight title - and then the UFC, where he became one of the most feared 185-pounders of his era.

With suffocating top control, a deadly submission game, and surprisingly heavy hands, Jacare finished a long list of opponents and spent years as a top-five middleweight. A title shot somehow always slipped away, often by the narrowest of margins against the division's very best, but his standing as an elite never wavered.

For new fans, Souza is essential viewing for understanding high-level MMA grappling: the moment a fight hit the floor against him, it was usually only a matter of time. Now retired, he's remembered as a likable, supremely skilled fighter whose ground game set a standard the division spent years trying to match.