Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza believes it’s just a matter of time before he clamps his jaws around the UFC middleweight title.
Despite a last-minute change of opponent for his UFC on Fox 15 co-main event in Newark, New Jersey, Souza remains confident and sure of his skills.
He has trained for “three, four months” by his account, and he wasn’t going to let that preparation go to waste.
“The bottom line is I’ve trained for three, four months for a fight—a fight they were going to put in front of me [with Romero],” Souza told Bleacher Report during the UFC’s Ultimate Media Day at New York’s Best Buy Theater. “I tried just to be ready. [Now] I’m just going to go in there and do my best. My focus is 100 percent [intact].”
It’d be easy to understand if his focus wasn’t 100 percent, though. The last-minute shakeup that set up a rematch with Chris Camozzi instead of a high-profile middleweight tilt with Yoel Romero could negatively affect his career trajectory.
As the No. 1-ranked middleweight in the UFC, according to the promotion’s official rankings, Souza is close to a title shot.
That much is clear.
What’s less clear is when, exactly, he’ll receive it. He’s won seven straight, finishing six of them via submission or KO/TKO, and a victory over the former Olympian and No. 6-ranked Romero may have sent Souza directly to the title.
Now, their fight isn’t happening. Souza will instead face Camozzi, a fighter he submitted in under four minutes at UFC on FX 8. Camozzi was cut from the UFC after four consecutive losses from May 2013 to September 2014, but the UFC deemed him worthy of another chance inside the Octagon after posting a 2-0 record in regional shows after his release.
For Souza‘s title chances, there also is the matter of UFC on Fox 15’s main event.
After he leaves the cage Saturday, top-five middleweights Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida will square off in a bout that could determine the next middleweight title contender. None of this is set in stone, and it may simply boil down to who performs most impressively on fight night.
To Souza, though, none of this matters. He believes if he wins against Camozzi, he’s in, and that’s that.
“I believe that’s not going to change [my chances of earning a title shot with a win over Camozzi instead of Romero],” he said. “I believe I’m still the top guy to have the right to fight for the title belt, right away. So, [this] is not going to change that.
“If a guy who trains three, four months to fight me got beat up, imagine a guy who has only six days. That’s the only thing that’s changed. But I’ll be ready, and I’m still focused to do my best and still focused to have the shot for the belt.”
In a worst-case scenario where either Rockhold or Machida earns the title shot over him, he said he’ll cope just fine. Despite his confidence in receiving his championship opportunity sooner than later, he’s in no rush to get there. When it happens, it happens, and he’ll be ready.
“Right now, I’m focused on my fight, but I work for the UFC and whoever they put in front of me, I will fight,” Souza said. “If it’s going to take an extra victory to take a shot at the belt, I’m going to do what I have to do.
“I know that’s going to be mine one day.”
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