Ronaldo Souza Praises Kelvin Gastelum Ahead of Their UFC 224 Bout

MMAjunkie recently spoke to UFC fighter Ronaldo Souza (Jacare) ahead of his upcoming UFC 224 bout with Kelvin Gastelum. Below are some highlights.

Ronaldo Souza on being unbeatable when he’s happy: “When I’m happy, no one can beat me. So in two fights, I’ll be middleweight champion of the UFC.”

Souza on his training camp: “I found a great team here – a humble team, but with a great heart. It’s been great to have this camp here. I feel great. It’s been a while since I had felt this good, physically – by that, I mean healthy. I was always doing well physically at X-Gym because we had great professionals, but I had a rough stretch, with multiple injuries, and that made it harder. I was doing two fights a year, now I’m going into my second fight in a single semester, so that changed a lot.”

Souza on being able to handle things: “Wherever you throw me, I can handle myself. I left home at 15, so adjusting to new places isn’t that hard. But I’m happy because my family is doing well. They’re doing well. I’m doing well. I found a good place to train, with good people to help me. Good coaches, good training partners, so it’s all been going very well.”

Ronaldo Souza on his recent doubts and contemplating retirement: “I don’t really have this problem with the idea of stopping, because I don’t want to risk my health. I’d thought about stopping before, because I thought maybe I couldn’t fight at a high level anymore. That’s was what made me think about that. The day things start getting tough, I’ll stop. That’s the natural order of things: You leave, and younger people come in. That’s just how life is and I see no problem with that. I just have the conviction and certainty that I can still fight at a high level and that I can still be champion.”

His thoughts on Kelvin Gastelum: “Kelvin Gastelum is a very tough guy, and there’s no one else to fight. (Former champion Luke) Rockhold is going to move up a division, he was just knocked out. (Former champion) Chris Weidman is injured, going through another surgery in his hand. Gastelum is the guy now. He’s the guy who’s ready to fight, and those who aren’t, lose their turn.”