Jacaré (left), Dana White (center) and Rockhold (right) spoke about the middleweight belt at the press conference. Photo: Reproduction
The climate between Ronaldo Jacare e Luke Rockhold It's not one of the friendliest since the Strikeforce days, when the North American defeated the Brazilian in the middleweight title fight. Today in the UFC, but again with Rockhold ahead, in a direct dispute for the position of next title challenger, Jacaré made a point of remembering the duel in the now defunct organization and once again questioned the judges' decision, ensuring that he was not defeated by his rival.
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“I believe 100% that it is my time. I am the number one challenger in this division. I fought Luke (Rockhold) a long time ago and everyone knows: he didn't beat me! The judges fought for him. I came here to fight and I'm ready for the title. This is my fifth fight in the UFC and, man, I can beat anyone in my division, at any time”, said the Brazilian, at the press conference, defending his right to fight for the belt.
Rockhold, on the other hand, chose to focus more on his self-promotion for a possible title fight, but he didn't miss the chance to needle Jacaré in his statement. “Look, man, I said it before and I'll say it again now: this is my show! I was going to come here and put on my show, dominate whoever my opponent was. No offense to Jacaré, but I'm the number one contender for the belt. I'm the best fighter out there and this is my title shot. I dominated everyone in my path, I already beat Jacaré and I deserve it”, said the North American.
Despite the “candidacies” of Luke Rockhold e Ronaldo Jacare, and the feud between the rivals on the microphones, UFC president Dana White preferred not to announce a decision and leave his position as the next challenger for the open middleweight title. “Look, Luke was incredible tonight. Look at what he did and who he did it against. Beating Machida like this is a great achievement. But people will probably say: 'Jacaré faced Chris Camozzi again'. Let me tell you something: Chris Camozzi agreed to replace (Romero) in this fight with six days to prepare and I agree with him, he is no longer the fighter he was two years ago. And Jacaré had everything to lose and nothing to gain, he was fighting the same unranked guy. But he didn't complain about it once, he went out there, fought and had his hand raised. So, now we are in the position of having two guys in a position to fight for the belt next and that is a great problem to have”, declared the manager.
With the triumph over Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15, Luke Rockhold he reached a professional record of 14 wins and only two defeats. The former Strikeforce champion also won four consecutive victories, all by knockout or submission. Already Ronaldo Jacare, 35 years old, expanded his resume to 22 wins, three losses and one fight without result with his new victory over Chris Camozzi. The jiu-jitsu specialist has won his last five fights, all of which he fought as an Ultimate athlete.
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