With an eye on the category, Jacaré bets on Belfort against Hendo

R. Jacaré (photo) awaits his return to the UFC in 2014. Photo: Josh Hedges

Two significant victories since the debut changed the level of Ronaldo Jacare in the UFC, placing him as one of the main names to compete for the middleweight belt (84kg), especially after the defeat of Anderson Silva for Chris Weidman. After knocking out Yushin Okami In October, the black belt rose to third place in the category's ranking, and is awaiting an even higher level opponent, possibly at the beginning of 2014. Vitor belfort, initially speculated, was announced by the president of Ultimate, Dana White, as the next challenger for the title, if he wins Dan Henderson, in this Saturday.

For Jacaré, the Brazilian is the favorite in the main fight on the Goiânia card. “Vitor is in surprising physical shape, unusual, and very versatile. O Dan Henderson He's a real tough guy, especially in the under-93kg category, he's a tough guy, but I'm betting on Vitor winning because he's physically in a better place, with better timing and fighting rhythm. He's phenomenal. It’s the big name in the category today”, he praises.

with the announcement of Vitor belfort as the next challenger for the belt in case of victory over Hendo, the category would be “standstill” for Jacaré, possibly until 2015. This is because Anderson Silva takes revenge against Chris Weidman on December 28th, and hardly one of them would fight again in less than six months. This new title dispute, between the end of the first half of 2014 and the beginning of the second half of 2015, would lead to a subsequent rest period until December or the beginning of XNUMX, so that a new “contender” would have his opportunity.

This situation, however, does not bother Ronaldo Jacare, which sees the category very busy and with great challenges before reaching the top.

“I don't care about the belt now, just about my next challenge. My goal is to be champion and that will happen in the future, it just depends on Ultimate saying when. I'm ready for any challenge, I want to do one fight after another, because there are big names from the Top 1 to the Top 8. The drop in weight of Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi changed the category a lot. Big fights are yet to happen”, he predicts.

A possible fight between light heavyweights (up to 93kg), for now, has been ruled out. “I need to prove a lot in Ultimate and I am completely focused on my weight division. I still have to do a lot of work on it, and only then do I intend to fight at 93kg. It’s a goal, but not now”, guarantees Jacaré.