Many eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Ronaldo Souza — the No. 3-ranked Middleweight in the world — took a fight against Tim Boetsch — who is barely hanging on to the No. 14 spot in the rankings — at UFC 208 on Feb. 11, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York.
It was especially puzzling because "Jacare" is close to a shot at the 185-pound title. And accepting a bout against a hard-hitting foe who is ranked outside the Top 10 is a high-risk, low-reward situation for the submission wizard. But, as Souza recently told MMA Fighting, he simply wanted to stay active with every other contender in the division either hurt, booked or too scared to fight him.