UFC 208: Jacare Souza Returns Against Tim Boetsch

UFC 208 will feature the return of top middleweight Jacare Souza, but his opponent will be a man outside the top-10.

Newsday’s Mark La Monica first reported the UFC 208 addition.

Yesterday, Jacare Souza’s manager Gilberto posted a fake Craigslist ad on Instagram seeking an opponent for the Jiu-Jitsu wizard. Today, his request has been answered in the form of Tim Boetsch. While many were expecting a top-five opponent next for Cage Pages’ third-ranked middleweight, we’ll have to settle for a fight against a long-time veteran.

Jacare Souza was set to fight former champion Luke Rockhold in a November Fight Night headliner, but Rockhold pulled out with a month to go and a replacement was not found for Jacare. After being used as a backup plan in case something went wrong with the Chris Weidman-Yoel Romero at UFC 205, Jacare left 2016 with only one fight for the year, a TKO over Vitor Belfort.

Tim Boetsch will be stepping into the Octagon for the 17th time during his second run with the promotion, while his first stint only lasted four fights. The middleweight division took notice of the former 205-er when he came from behind to knock out former title challenger Yushin Okami in the third round back in 2012. Since then, “The Barbarian” is 4-6, but has won two straight contests after going on a three-fight skid.

With his appearance on this upcoming pay-per-view, Tim Boetsch will have appeared on two of the first three events in which the Octagon has landed in New York come March. Boetsch trains out of Pennsylvania, which borders New York.

UFC 208 will take place on February 11 in the Barclays Center of Brooklyn, New York. The inaugural women’s featherweight title fight between Holly Holm and Germaine De Randamie headlines the card. The rest of the event features: