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Jacare Responds To Bisping’s Criticism Of His Decision To Turn Down UFC 199 Opportunity
When Michael Bisping received the call from UFC management offering him the title fight against Luke Rockhold in the UFC 199 main event on short-notice, “The Count” was the guy to count-on for the company, however he wasn’t their first choice.
As noted, UFC initially contacted Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who was coming off a dominant performance in stopping MMA legend Vitor Belfort at UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil earlier this month. Jacare, however, turned down the bout.
When Bisping found out about the fact that Souza had declined the title fight with Rockhold, which would have also been a rematch for the UFC 185-pound champion, he took the Brazilian contender to task, openly criticizing him for turning down such a big opportunity.
Upon hearing about Bisping’s comments, Souza spoke with MMAFighting.com, where he offered his retort.
“Honestly, I didn’t know I’d get hurt so bad,” Souza told MMA Fighting about the reason why he had to turn down the short-notice offer to fight Rockhold in the UFC 199 main event on June 4. “I felt the pain before UFC 198, but was well trained and strong, so I didn’t train for a week. I felt the knee again during the fight. I was devastated because I did the MRI on May 16 and on May 17 I got the news that Weidman was injured. If I knew about it, I wouldn’t even do the MRI [laughs]. I had to open the black box to see what was going on with my knee.”
Souza continued, “It was a clean surgery, and I’m walking normally now. I had to do this surgery. I had a meniscus injury, and it would definitely get worse if I didn’t do this now. I was physically well in the fight, could move normally. Everybody has injuries going into a fight, it’s impossible to be 100 percent, but thank God I had the best strategy and won.”
As he would go on to explain, Jacare is scheduled to start rehab with his doctor and physical therapist and is expected to be cleared to train in approximately 20 days.
“I was going to say yes (and fight at UFC 199), but the MRI was done. I couldn’t just ignore the results,” he said. “Healthy first. I’m a Christian man, so I prayed. Whatever was in the MRI results would determine my future, if I would take the fight or not. The doctor told me ‘you fought Belfort for five minutes and can’t walk now. Imagine yourself fighting Rockhold for 25 minutes. You’ll lose your leg’. I decided not to fight because of my health.”
Jacare was scheduled to be ringside for the originally scheduled Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman title fight at UFC 199, however he still plans to be in attendance when Bisping challenges Rockhold for the title in Inglewood, California.
“I am the next challenger,” said the Brazilian. “Weidman won’t be back in a while, (Yoel) Romero was caught in a doping test, and I’ve earned a shot. I already asked the UFC for my flight ticket.”
In the end, Jacare made it clear that he’s next in line for a shot at the 185-pound title, and despite Bisping’s harsh criticism of his decision to turn down the short-notice opportunity at UFC 199, he wished the Englishman good luck in his upcoming title fight.
“(Bisping) is in the UFC for a long time, but that means nothing,” Souza responded. “I fought the guy that knocked him out, so no way he’s in front of me. The guys I beat are tougher than the ones he defeated. Time means nothing, what really means is what you’ve done to earn it. I earned it. They called me on short notice and I couldn’t take it, but I’m next. No need to say anything else. My loss to Romero was a robbery and then he got caught. Weidman won’t return until November. And I beat Vitor up, so I’m next.”
“But I wish him good luck, a good fight,” he continued. “He can say whatever he wants, and I’ll say what I want. I hope he does a good fight. He’s in the UFC for 10 years and does a good job, so I hope he fights well.”
UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping II is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Make sure to visit MMANews.com on 6/4 for the best UFC 199 live results coverage on the web!
When Michael Bisping received the call from UFC management offering him the title fight against Luke Rockhold in the UFC 199 main event on short-notice, “The Count” was the guy to count-on for the company, however he wasn’t their first choice.
As noted, UFC initially contacted Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who was coming off a dominant performance in stopping MMA legend Vitor Belfort at UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil earlier this month. Jacare, however, turned down the bout.
When Bisping found out about the fact that Souza had declined the title fight with Rockhold, which would have also been a rematch for the UFC 185-pound champion, he took the Brazilian contender to task, openly criticizing him for turning down such a big opportunity.
Upon hearing about Bisping’s comments, Souza spoke with MMAFighting.com, where he offered his retort.
“Honestly, I didn’t know I’d get hurt so bad,” Souza told MMA Fighting about the reason why he had to turn down the short-notice offer to fight Rockhold in the UFC 199 main event on June 4. “I felt the pain before UFC 198, but was well trained and strong, so I didn’t train for a week. I felt the knee again during the fight. I was devastated because I did the MRI on May 16 and on May 17 I got the news that Weidman was injured. If I knew about it, I wouldn’t even do the MRI [laughs]. I had to open the black box to see what was going on with my knee.”
Souza continued, “It was a clean surgery, and I’m walking normally now. I had to do this surgery. I had a meniscus injury, and it would definitely get worse if I didn’t do this now. I was physically well in the fight, could move normally. Everybody has injuries going into a fight, it’s impossible to be 100 percent, but thank God I had the best strategy and won.”
As he would go on to explain, Jacare is scheduled to start rehab with his doctor and physical therapist and is expected to be cleared to train in approximately 20 days.
“I was going to say yes (and fight at UFC 199), but the MRI was done. I couldn’t just ignore the results,” he said. “Healthy first. I’m a Christian man, so I prayed. Whatever was in the MRI results would determine my future, if I would take the fight or not. The doctor told me ‘you fought Belfort for five minutes and can’t walk now. Imagine yourself fighting Rockhold for 25 minutes. You’ll lose your leg’. I decided not to fight because of my health.”
Jacare was scheduled to be ringside for the originally scheduled Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman title fight at UFC 199, however he still plans to be in attendance when Bisping challenges Rockhold for the title in Inglewood, California.
“I am the next challenger,” said the Brazilian. “Weidman won’t be back in a while, (Yoel) Romero was caught in a doping test, and I’ve earned a shot. I already asked the UFC for my flight ticket.”
In the end, Jacare made it clear that he’s next in line for a shot at the 185-pound title, and despite Bisping’s harsh criticism of his decision to turn down the short-notice opportunity at UFC 199, he wished the Englishman good luck in his upcoming title fight.
“(Bisping) is in the UFC for a long time, but that means nothing,” Souza responded. “I fought the guy that knocked him out, so no way he’s in front of me. The guys I beat are tougher than the ones he defeated. Time means nothing, what really means is what you’ve done to earn it. I earned it. They called me on short notice and I couldn’t take it, but I’m next. No need to say anything else. My loss to Romero was a robbery and then he got caught. Weidman won’t return until November. And I beat Vitor up, so I’m next.”
“But I wish him good luck, a good fight,” he continued. “He can say whatever he wants, and I’ll say what I want. I hope he does a good fight. He’s in the UFC for 10 years and does a good job, so I hope he fights well.”
UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping II is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 4, 2016 from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Make sure to visit MMANews.com on 6/4 for the best UFC 199 live results coverage on the web!
