MASHANTUCKET, Conn. – Ronaldo Souza avenged a 2008 loss against Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 50 on Friday night to make it seven wins in a row, four of which have come in in the UFC. But don’t book him into a middleweight title fight just yet. That’s because there’s already a 185-pound title fight on the horizon between Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman, which is set for UFC 181 on Dec. 6. Even though Jacare has earned his way into title talks, his timing is off for that to happen immediately.
And according to UFC president Dana White, because Belfort-Weidman is still three months off, Souza will likely need to fight again before he gets his crack at the belt. You can say [Souza] is next in line for a title, he told on a Fox Sports 1 post-fight interview. Somebody’s already next in line for the title, so obviously Jacare looked incredible tonight, he put on a great performance and I’m sure he’ll fight again before we talk about title shots. Souza (21-3-1) is the former Strikeforce middleweight champion.
He lost his title to Luke Rockhold in Sept. 2011, and has gone a seven-fight win streak since then. On Friday night, Jacare was able to even things up with Mousasi, who defeated him at DREAM 6 in Japan with a well-time upkick. Souza tapped Mousasi out in the third round via guillotine, but was dominating the fight from the opening bell. The end came at the 4:30 mark of round three. It was the kind of declarative performance in a main event spot that makes its own case.
Dana White says Ronaldo Souza will likely have to fight again before title shot
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