Ronaldo Souza came very close of turning down the offer to rematch Derek Brunson in Charlotte, North Carolina. After going through shoulder surgery and tending to old injuries, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion did not feel healthy at all weeks prior to fight night.

As he told AG Fight, he stayed on the card even against his own team’s advice.

“I couldn’t run for ten minutes. I could only run for two minutes,” Jacare said. “That was 10 weeks before the fight. I was not well at all. I took me a while to accept the fight, but I did. In the end, I was happy to be fighting. At the end of my camp, I felt better physically and could get to the fight a little better, but I was not 100%. I was just well and happy.”

“All of my coaches thought there was not enough time to train,” he added. “I like to fight and I started to feel a bigger improvement. I asked the UFC to give me two weeks, to see if I could get a little better, and I did. My coaches noticed that, as well trusted me on it.”

Jacare Souza defeated Derek Brunson via head kick TKO in the first round of their UFC on FOX 27 main event last month. Souza currently does not have a fight scheduled.