Jacare: Luke Rockhold isn’t hurt, he just doesn’t want to fight me

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is skeptical about Luke Rockhold’s current injury situation.

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was supposed to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC Melbourne last November. Unfortunately for both men, the fight was scrapped after Rockhold suffered an ACL injury.

A month after he revealed his injury, Rockhold was already seen back in the gym, training. He also went on to call out Jon Jones, after the latter’s win over Dan Henderson at Submission Underground 2 last December.

Such actions have brought skepticism to Jacare, who will now be facing Tim Boetsch at UFC 208 on Saturday, February 11th.

“At the moment, when I heard (about the injury), I believed he was hurt,” Jacare told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani through a translator. “But after seeing him train – he trains more than me. And then he challenged Jon Jones to a grappling match. Put all that together, it seems like he’s not hurt. He just doesn’t want to fight me.”

Jacare has been situated at the top-five spot of the UFC middleweight rankings for a while now, but a title shot has seemingly eluded him. The 37-year-old veteran fighter, however, is optimistic that he will be getting his chance this year.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. I’m a good fighter, a good person so it’s just about me to keep on fighting. I’m happy to be here, to be fighting in the UFC so it’s just a matter of time. I know it’s going to happen.”

UFC 208 takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is skeptical about Luke Rockhold’s current injury situation.

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was supposed to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC Melbourne last November. Unfortunately for both men, the fight was scrapped after Rockhold suffered an ACL injury.

A month after he revealed his injury, Rockhold was already seen back in the gym, training. He also went on to call out Jon Jones, after the latter’s win over Dan Henderson at Submission Underground 2 last December.

Such actions have brought skepticism to Jacare, who will now be facing Tim Boetsch at UFC 208 on Saturday, February 11th.

“At the moment, when I heard (about the injury), I believed he was hurt,” Jacare told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani through a translator. “But after seeing him train – he trains more than me. And then he challenged Jon Jones to a grappling match. Put all that together, it seems like he’s not hurt. He just doesn’t want to fight me.”

Jacare has been situated at the top-five spot of the UFC middleweight rankings for a while now, but a title shot has seemingly eluded him. The 37-year-old veteran fighter, however, is optimistic that he will be getting his chance this year.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen. I’m a good fighter, a good person so it’s just about me to keep on fighting. I’m happy to be here, to be fighting in the UFC so it’s just a matter of time. I know it’s going to happen.”

UFC 208 takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.