“Jacare” Souza (photo via UFC)

The sports world demands nothing but the best from athletes. The athletes who wish to get to the top have to bleed and make a lot of sacrifices to get there. Take the Ultimate Fighting Championship, (UFC), for example. Many professional athletes like ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza are just a few of the big names in the sport. These great MMA legends of all time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship are also found on Esports. Esports, on the other hand, is a form of competition that incorporates video games and one that has witnessed a surge in popularity recently. When thinking of Esports, you have sports associations like the first-person shooter, multiplayer online battle arena, fighting, and real-time strategy.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

According to Tapology, Jacare, for one, has never managed to get a shot at the title, despite him toiling away at the top position of the middleweight division.

In the case of Jacare, having to toil all these years eying the top title, is more of a derailing situation. In 2015, he was knocked out of the title by Yoel Romero by a split decision. Then Robert Whittaker knocked him out in 2017. Then, most recently, Kelvin Gastelum stole the shot from him too. This year, Jacare aims to discuss a rematch for the title with Yoel Romero. Sherdog has a detailed report on the professional life of Ronaldo Jacare Souza as a professional UFC fighter.

Some sporting games like UFC involve physical fights and a lot of injuries as opposed to Esports which is a virtual sport. In most instances, games found in Esports involve video games. When playing online UFC wrestling matches on Esports, you can choose any opponents to fight Jacare, like Romero, or opponents that Jacare has never fought in real life. UFC enthusiasts who like gambling can also lay bets on the UFC matches on Esports the same way they do to the real UFC matches. Back to the case of Jacare, you would wonder how the ultimate title has eluded such an accomplished athlete. For a man who wants to conquer the sporting world, you can only imagine how anxious he is to get his hands on the belt.

The Retirement Option For Jacare

However, Jacare has always claimed he would sit back and wait for his shot, his chance, at the title. He has always stated that should the UFC decline giving him the opportunity then he has no problem opening his own jiu-jitsu school. Jacare always states that he has no issue retiring while still in tip-top shape with a good body and great hormones. Everyone wants to have Jacare fight in the big leagues with the big boys. According to Jacare, he is pretty positive that he will win the fight as he waits for the UFC shot. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, he answered that he would retire supposing the UFC passed to offer him the opportunity.

According to him, he is a champ, and that’s what he always strives to do. The only thing that would prevent him getting a chance at the title would be if the management didn’t like him.

However, if you crunch the numbers, you find that Jacare could be sitting idle for a while as he waits for the title shot, being that the next big fight is between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum for the interim title. Not to mention that the winner of the competition is set to fight Robert Whittaker next who is still on the road to recovery from bowel surgery. That probably puts the fight at some time in August at the earliest. Afterward, it would take at least another four to five months before the next title shot would become available. In Jacare’s situation, he says that he is willing to wait for his shot at the title. Being that he has waited for the title for all those years, he claims that he doesn’t mind waiting one more year.

But then again, you still find that the next UFC holder would still need to want to consider having Jacare as a number 1 contender for the title. Plus, to have him as the likely contender for the title shot for that long is also a long shot considering the period he’d have to wait. The middleweight division, for one, is very competitive. The promotion content of the fights also puts more stress and emphasis on the fighters having to stay active. These few reasons should be enough to make anyone who believes Jacare remains the number 1 contender for the shot become doubtful. Not unless the fight between Jacare and Romero is one of the most dominant ones in the history of the sport. Anything less and Jacare will be very lucky to stay relevant in conversations without engaging in any fights for an entire year.