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'Jacare' Willing To Wait For Title Shot Against Whittaker-Gastelum Winner



Ronaldo Souza is confident in his place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, and willing to wait for the title shot he believes he has earned.

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Earlier this month at UFC 230, “Jacare” notched an impressive come-from-behind victory over former middleweight champ Chris Weidman. Behind on the judges’ scorecards coming into the third round, dug deep to land a flurry of punches on Weidman, knocking him out and putting himself back into title contention.

The 38-year-old was considered as an ideal backup fighter for when Robert Whittaker defends his middleweight belt against Kelvin Gastelum. However, Souza does not see himself as a “plan B.” Speaking to Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting, the veteran grappler expressed that he would prefer to wait and fight the winner of that title bout later in the year.>

“I’m a plan A, man,” Souza said. “I will fight for the belt. I want to wait for my chance. I’m a plan A, I will wait for my turn.”

“Jacare” has been a backup fighter for a title fight before, having been on standby at UFC 205 in 2016 when Weidman took on Yoel Romero. However, the Brazilian is not keen on doing it again without any reward at the end. One thing working in Souza’s favor is that unlike many fighters, he isn’t desperate for a payday as financially, 2018 was a good year for him.

“I’ve made a lot of money this year,” Souza said. “I fought three times, I won three bonuses. I have one performance bonus and two fights of the night, I knocked my last opponent out. I’ve made plenty of money, I can stay some time without fighting.”

While Souza believes his decisive victory over Weidman should get him a shot at the belt, it hasn’t always worked out the way you would think.

“Romero defeats me in a robbery and fights for the belt,” Souza said. “Gastelum wins a split decision, a close fight -- and I thought I should have won -- and he fights for the belt. If Chris Weidman had beat me, he would have fought for the belt, and I’m the No. 5 in the rankings. I knocked him out. Why am I not going to fight for the belt? Why? For what reason?

“He’s an excellent champion, a nice guy, someone who has beaten every Brazilian he fought, and I ended his dominance over Brazilians,” Souza added. “The title is something natural that will happen. No one can be sure of anything, man. Things only happen if God allows it, but I believe it will happen.”
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