Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza may once again be lined up for a collision course. With his dominating win over Michael Bisping last weekend at UFC Fight Night 55, Rockhold is clearly a front-runner for contendership in the UFC’s middleweight division. However, the same could be said for Jacare. So when it comes to deciding who should be the next man to get a title shot, the UFC’s matchmakers now have a star matchup gift-wrapped for them.
Hop into a time machine and flashback to September 10, 2011. Luke Rockhold would face “Jacare” Souza, who was defending his Strikeforce middleweight title. If today’s MMA fans were to guess, they would think that this fight was the main event that night. However, it wasn’t even the co-main event of the Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov card. Flying under the radar, Rockhold defeated Jacare after five rounds of action, earning his first taste of MMA gold. This would be the first time these two men found themselves linked in sports history. Their second opportunity could now be upon us.
The current UFC middleweight rankings have Jacare placed in the second spot, while Rockhold is ranked fifth. Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort currently sit between them on the promotion’s list of contenders. Machida is coming off his UFC 175 loss to Chris Weidman, and is currently booked to face C.B. Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 58 on December 20. Belfort is the next man in line to face Weidman at UFC 184. For planning and scheduling purposes, making the bout between Rockhold and Jacare should be the next move for the UFC for a number of reasons, but there a number of directions that the promotion could go with this matchup.
First, a fight between Rockhold and Jacare could carry a UFC on Fox event in early 2015. The promotion needs athletes that can entice fans to watch, and fill the void left by the departure of its stars. Rockhold did a strong job of promoting a UFC Fight Pass bout with Bisping; if the fight venue and marketing campaigns are properly set up, the UFC would have an even bigger fight on its hands with Rockhold-Jacare. Both of these fighters have the ability to put on an exciting matchup, so the company would just have to provide them with the proper stage to do so.
A second approach would be to schedule this fight in such a way as to provide insurance to the UFC against future mishaps at the top of the middleweight division. Weidman is slowly becoming known as an injury-prone fighter, as he has pushed multiple bouts back in the past due to being hurt. Belfort has his issues with PED usage, which have placed him under a tight microscope by athletic commissions everywhere. If the UFC were to place a Rockhold vs. Jacare fight on the UFC 184 card, which still isn’t finalized, the promotion would gain the opportunity to have either (or both) of these men fill in on short notice, in an interim title fight if necessary. This type of thing has been done in the past, as UFC 158 is the most recent example of a card where multiple fights were created “just in case” something caused a change in the main event.
2015 is shaping up well, as a number of big fights are already announced. After his performance this past weekend, Luke Rockhold should be matched with Ronaldo Souza to create another one. But the second time around, a shot at the UFC middleweight title should be at stake. No matter which man comes out on top, the organization would win, as it would have a clear cut number one contender, and quite possibly, another star on its hands.
• Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping: Luke Rockhold def. Michael Bisping via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:57 of Round 2.
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UFC Fight Night 55: Rockhold vs. Bisping took place on November 8, 2014 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (Due to the time differences, the event aired on November 7, 2014 in the United States.)
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