Ronald Jacare Souza | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

A pivotal middleweight fight could very well take place in the Octagon before the year’s end.

According to Gilberto Faria, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza’s manager, a bout between “Jacare” and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman ‘might’ be next:

“I believe that Weidman might be the next fight, in late-December or early-January, if that’s a good date for the UFC to book this fight,” Faria told MMA Fighting. “When we get closer to that date, we’ll see more clearly what the options are for Jacare’s next opponent.”

Souza is coming off of a brutal stoppage loss to interim 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker this past April. Prior to that, he had won two straight and 10 of his previous 11 fights. The Brazilian grappling guru is expected to return to training in the coming weeks after undergoing pectoral surgery shortly after his loss to Whittaker.

Weidman, on the other hand, was riding a disappointing three-fight losing streak that included losses to Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi prior to his most recent fight. He last competed at UFC on FOX 25 this past July on Long Island, scoring a much-needed submission victory over Kelvin Gastelum.

With middleweight champion Michael Bisping set to defend his title against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 and Whittaker dealing with an injury, is this a fight you’d like to see?

The post Manager: Chris Weidman vs. Jacare Souza ‘Might’ Be Next appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was scheduled to rematch former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza this past November, but he was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury. The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product last competed at June 2016’s UFC 199, losing his title in shocking fashion to Michael Bisping.

Recently speaking on the state of the middleweight division, Rockhold said that he hasn’t seen much ‘movement’, also saying that he’d like to ‘finish business’ with Souza upon his return:

“I haven’t seen much movement in the division, honestly. I think Bisping is a coward and he’s running and trying to get irrelevant fights and I think Jacare is right where he was before I left,” Rockhold said on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“Anderson came back, did his thing, I haven’t seen much else go down. I’m excited to get back. ‘Jacare’ says I’m running, he wants to stay relevant, he wants to stay in the fight game, not wait around. He’ll have to wait a while (for a title shot) given the current situation, so I’d love to go in there and fix that situation and finish my business with that man.”

Rockhold even has a time frame for a potential rematch with the Brazilian submission ace:

“If the time works for him, I think that July timeframe, International Fight Week (July), it plays nicely for me. I want ‘Jacare,’ I’m not looking to dance around. I’m going straight through the gut of the division back to my title.”

Souza fought last weekend at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, submitting Tim Boetsch in the first round of their main card bout. “Jacare” is currently ranked No. 2 in the 185-pound division, but Rockhold doesn’t seem to be impressed with his progress:

“I didn’t see anything from ‘Jacare.’ I think he’s slow, I think he’s stiff and I think he forces the fight as to where I flow with the fight,” said Luke. “I haven’t seen him grow since I fought him. I know that I had a little fall back, but I will bounce back and show people that it wasn’t what you will see in the future, I will reset and put that man away,” he concluded.

Rockhold did indeed edge out a decision victory over Souza when the two first met, but would you expect a different outcome in a rematch?

The post Luke Rockhold Responds To Jacare’s Callout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.