Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza has undergone successful surgery to repair the fractured right humerus he suffered against Andre Muniz in the featured preliminary fight of UFC 262.
Souza was submitted in the first round by Muniz, who had the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace in an armbar that resulted in the fracture. He was immediately taken to a local hospital in Houston, TX where he had X-rays done that confirmed he did indeed fracture his right humerus. Per Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting, Souza consulted with his longtime doctor in Brazil, Rickson Moraes, and was prepared for surgery in the following days.
On Monday afternoon, Souza received the surgery and seemed to be doing well afterwards. His coach, Josuel Distak, posted a video on Instagram of Jacare talking and smiling with everyone in the hospital room.
Moraes may not have been there to oversee the surgery of Souza, but he was still very much involved. He told Marcelo Alonso of Sherdog that he was able to see Souza through a video call and gave a timeline for the recovery process.
“I just did a video call with him and saw the X-ray,” said Moraes. “The surgery was excellent. They placed two plates to fix the bones. The team that did the surgery will evaluate, but normally that type of fracture takes around six months for a complete recovery.”
There is no word on when Souza will be medically cleared to return to competition, but it may likely be sometime next year.
Souza is now on a four-fight losing streak, which is the first of its kind in his professional mixed martial arts career. The middleweight staple has dropped decisions to Jack Hermansson and Jan Blachowicz in back-to-back main event appearances in 2019. He was then stopped by Kevin Holland in surprising fashion at UFC 256 last year.
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