Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Combat Athletes

10. Ronaldo Souza

“Jacare,” who was Sherdog's sixth greatest grappler ever and sixth greatest Strikeforce fighter ever, just cracks the list. I consider Souza highly underrated in MMA, which is likely because he never held the UFC middleweight title. Given how capricious the UFC can be in granting title shots are, and that Souza joined the UFC when he was already 33 years old, I don't hold this against him. Furthermore, Souza was the Strikeforce champion, submitting future UFC champion Robbie Lawler and just barely losing a 5-round verdict to another future UFC champion in Luke Rockhold. Never mind that almost everyone thinks he deserved the decision against Yoel Romero, after which he would have certainly received a title shot closer to his prime. So I consider him a top 5 all-time middleweight or very close to it. In BJJ, Souza was one of the greatest names in the entire sport in the early to mid-2000s. He was an eight-time BJJ world champion and also achieved tremendous success at Abu Dhabi Combat Club, the premier grappling tournament held every two years. In 2003, he won a silver medal in the 88-kilogram division, then improved two years later, winning gold in the same division and taking a silver medal in the absolute category against Roger Gracie, who was much larger and arguably the greatest heavyweight grappler ever. In 2009, Souza was part of a featured superfight and triumphed over fellow BJJ legend—and solid MMA fighter—Robert Drysdale. Admittedly, BJJ wasn't as competitive or evolved 20 years ago as it is now, but nevertheless, Souza was not only the best in his weight class but one of the very best pound-for-pound in the entire sport. For attaining greatness in two different combat sports, he is a well-deserved inclusion on this list.

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