Middleweight Star Ronaldo“Jacare” Souza

Signs With Strikeforce

NEW YORK (August 5, 2009)–- Dream Middleweight Grand Prix runner-up and submission wizard Ronaldo

“Jacare” Souza (10-2) has signed a multi-fight agreement with world championship mixed martial arts

(MMA) promotion STRIKEFORCE.

Souza is expected to fulfill the first fight on his contract in the fall.

“I am very excited that I will have the opportunity to fight in STRIKEFORCE amongst many of the world’s

best middleweight fighters,” said the 29-year-old Souza, a native of Brazil, established his position as a top

tier middleweight last year after placing second in the 2008 Dream Middleweight Grand Prix single

elimination tournament in Japan. 

“STRIKEFORCE has an extremely deep roster of top middleweight fighters.  I am looking forward to the

challenge and to taking my career to the next level.”

During the opening round of the Dream tournament held in the city of Saitama on April 29, 2008, Souza

submitted Ian Murphy with a rear naked choke in the first round (3:37).  Souza’s next opponent, Jason

“Mayhem” Miller, proved to be a tougher battle, escaping several submission attempts by the Brazilian in

Yokohama on June 15, 2008.  Souza prevailed, however, earning a unanimous decision over the American

star. 

In semifinal action on September 23, 2008, Souza made quick work of Zelg Galesic, submitting Galesic

with an armbar in the first round (1:27) of action in Saitama.  That same night, however, Souza was finally

stopped by Gegard Mousasi, the number two ranked middleweight in the world, in the first round (2:15) of

the tournament’s championship bout in Saitama.

Souza, who took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the age of 17, fought MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture

to a draw in a grappling contest in 2006 and, shortly thereafter, began training at Xtreme Couture.  He has

since returned to training in his homeland. 

Souza’s nickname, “Jacare,” is Portuguese for the species of alligator that inhabit Manaus, the town in Brazil

where he was born.

The news of Souza signing with STRIKEFORCE comes two days after the San Jose, California based

promotion inked an agreement with M-1 Global to co-promote Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top ranked

heavyweight and arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium

cable television network.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on

Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed

martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary

champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion,

played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive

provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world

championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs.

Gracie.”  In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with

Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation

aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

- From Strikeforce with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(8/5/09)