Luke Rockhold's last four fights have been very impressive, but they may not have been enough to get him an immediate title shot at Chris Weidman's middleweight strap. According to UFC President Dana White, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza is most likely Weidman's next opponent.
"So Jacare's manager hit me right after the fight and said, 'We're ready for Chris Weidman,' so it'll probably be Jacare vs. Weidman next," White said. "I don't know. Anything can happen. We'll see how this thing plays out. Luke Rockhold is obviously the No. 1 contender. We'll see what happens."
White told MMA Fighting that after Weidman beat Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 he begged White to give him the next crack, and promised a crowd-pleasing, stand up brawl.
"Luke Rockhold said, 'Do not give this fight to Jacare. Jacare isn't going to try to come in and do what I'm going to do. You saw what I did to [Lyoto] Machida. That's exactly what I'm going to do to Weidman. Me and Weidman will go after each other. It'll be a stand-up fight. We'll do this, we'll do that. Let's do this thing in Las Vegas.' He was all over me back here. We'll see what happens."
Rockhold has won his last four fights, with the last two coming by submission over respected veterans Michael Bisping and Lyoto Machida. Each of the four wins has come by either knockout or submission.
Souza has been just as dominant in his five UFC bouts. He debuted with a win over on a card featuring Rockhold vs. Belfort, and has won four of his five UFC bouts via knockout or submission. Unlike Rockhold, however, Souza doesn't have the names on his resume to make him a surefire candidate to be competitive vs. Weidman.
After beating Belfort, Weidman was complimentary of both Rockhold and Souza, but said Rockhold is more deserving.
"Jacare would be an amazing competition. I know Rockhold's here," Weidman said. "I'm not the matchmaker, but I feel like Rockhold put on a better last performance than Jacare just because of the guy he fought."
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