Ronaldo Jacaré on why he gets punched so seldom

Ronaldo Jacaré submits Tim Boetsch via kimura at UFC 208. UFC

At 37, Ronaldo Jacaré is living the highest point in his MMA career. Nine of his last ten fights were won by him, and only one win came by decision. His last loss was a split decision versus Yoel Romero, and his last KO suffered was in 2008.

After having knocked out Vitor Belfort and subbing Boetsch, however, the BJJ world champion feels he hasn’t proven much in the UFC’s middleweight class. He recently talked to Brazilian cable show Revista Combate about this.

“In order to prove something in my category,” he said, “I need to win the 84kg belt, defend the belt properly, take on the best. But I know at the right time the title bout will come. And, when I get my shot, I won’t fail.”

Prompted by host Rhoodes Lima, Jacaré commentated his lighting-fast win against Tim Boetsch last Saturday.

“I had to win in that way; it was the only way to show everybody why he is No. 13 and I’m at the top of the class. I was so confident and well trained standing, and I knew that, when I took him to the ground, it would be the beginning of the end.

“Some people criticize me, think my boxing guard is too low, but at middleweight I’m the guy who is punched in the face the least, according to the UFC’s statistics. I believe that is the case because people are afraid to go to the ground with me, thanks to my BJJ, and so they move farther and hit me less. Another good reason is that I’ve been hitting harder and harder — the hand power is really good.”

Jacaré took the opportunity to also throw shade at the current middleweight champion, Michael Bisping.

“My division is a little jumbled up, all because Michael Bisping keeps coming up with fights. I want to fight GSP and then Chiquinho das Dores. In truth he’s running from the best in the category.

“I may do a fight with Luke Rockhold, if it is a main event. I want to see whether he can go five rounds with me; let’s see whether he’s tough. But I know he will run from me. When he fought me at Strikeforce, he showed up with a ref and judges who were his buddies, and I lost by decision. I was robbed by his judge friend.”