Ronaldo Souza believes referee Dan Miragliotta made a mistake during his fight against Chris Weidman at UFC 230.
Ronaldo Souza was not pleased with the way his fight ended at UFC 230. Even though ‘Jacare’ scored a major KO win over former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, the 38-year-old believes referee Dan Miragliotta took too long to stop the fight, which forced the Brazilian to inflict further and unnecessary damage.
In an interview published on the UFC’s official YouTube channel, Jacare explained that he is a fan of Weidman’s and did not want the fight to end the way it did.
“I was pretty upset. The truth is that I’m a big fan of Weidman’s, I follow him on social media. I admire his work and the father that he is. So I was pretty angry when because the referee didn’t stop it any sooner.”
However, although the Brazilian was unhappy with the way the bout ended, he believes a knockout win over Weidman is impressive enough to warrant him a title shot against the winner of the upcoming match between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.
“I’m going to wait for my turn now. I’m going to sit out and wait for the champion. Be it Robert Whittaker or Kelvin Gastelum.”
Before defeating Weidman, Souza (26-6-1 NC) dropped a split decision to Kelvin Gastelum in May. The loss came right after a knockout win over Derek Brunson in January. The Brazilian has been unable to put together a win streak since 2016-17, when he defeated Tim Boetsch and Vitor Belfort.