Ronaldo Souza’s light heavyweight experiment lasted just one fight.
“Jacare” is set to return to the middleweight division for his next fight, which is expected to come against Uriah Hall at UFC 249 in April.
MMA Junkie verified with multiple persons close to the situation that verbal agreements are in place for the matchup between Souza (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and Hall (15-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC) following an initial report from ESPN.com. The persons requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC 249 takes place April 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
After seemingly hitting his ceiling as a middleweight contender, Souza moved up a weight class this past month. He met one of the 205-pound division’s top contenders in Jan Blachowicz in the UFC on ESPN+ 22 main event, dropping a split decision in a fight the Brazilian thought he won.
Nevertheless, the result apparently didn’t convince Souza to stick around, because he returns to the division where he’s 3-3 in his past six.
Hall will try to tack another loss on that record as he attempts to continue his own run up the 185-pound pecking order. “Primetime” is coming off a solid decision win over Antonio Carlos Junior at UFC on ESPN+ 16 in September in what was his first fight since joining the Dallas-based Fortis MMA squad.
The latest UFC 249 card now includes:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson – for lightweight title
- Uriah Hall vs. Ronaldo Souza
