Jacare is a bit at odds with the UFC. In spite of losing just one of his last 5 bouts he’s as likely to get a title shot as Anderson Spider Silva who technically hasn’t won a fight since 2012?! Of course Jacare and Silva have been friends and training partners for years.
“The friendship stays”, Souza said via flocombat. “But, of course, I would be upset because it is my turn and I am not a hypocrite who sugarcoats things. It’s not all good at all. I would get super annoyed (should Silva get the title shot), but God bless. I always say that God really likes Anderson because he does a lot and practically everything works out. Even when he does it wrong, it works. So I want to be friends with the guy who is so dear to God”, he laughed.
Still in spite of Jacare’s good streak he’s unable to get a title shot due to Bisping’s resistance to accept the fight. Bisping has been quoted saying he’s only interested in big money fights right now. And he’ll be undergoing surgery to boot so he’ll be out of commission for a while – he’s looking at a May 2017 return.
But Bisping will be able to avoid Jacare with a claim that Jacare wouldn’t attract enough fans. All the while Souza believes he deserves a chance to grab the belt:
“Everyone knows and is tired of knowing that I am the most viable option for the UFC, both in the media and in the pay-per-view sale, and in everything. And everyone knows it was a disaster for Dan Henderson to fight with Bisping. They did not even show the number of pay-per-views they sold. It sure was a disaster. No one wanted to see that crap of a fight.”
Jacare will be fighting Tim Boetsch on February 11th at UFC 208 because he was the only option for Souza to be active since no other high profile middleweights are available. He’s very irritated by the UFC letting this happen:
“They failed me, everybody knows that”, Souza complained. “But I do not feel wronged. I have a good salary, I have a fight now to do. I was told that I should not have accepted this fight. But I’m what, a dancer? A dancer dances, a singer sings, and a fighter does what? Fight. I’ve already gone about eight months without fighting since I beat Belfort. I was going to fight in November against Rockhold, but he withdrew, he was modeling. So, this fight is over and thank god the UFC gave me this opportunity to keep me going.”
