Jacare Souza has a single crucial fight left on his UFC contract

Ronaldo Jacare Souza has one more fight left on his UFC contract and it will be against Robert Whittaker at UFC on FOX 24, which takes place on April 15.

Currently ranked #3 on the official UFC rankings, Souza is close to getting his UFC title shot. The middleweight wants to continue fighting in the UFC and go through the toughest competition to get his shot at the belt, according to his manager, Gilberto Faria.

“We’ve been going back and forth (with UFC officials) for a while,” Faria told MMA Fighting. “We still have not reached an agreement on his value, but we will continue to talk after the fight. Our goal is to reach a new agreement shortly. The UFC middleweight belt is Jacare’s goal. With a good contract in place, we will keep fighting the best middleweight talents out there and earn the title shot.

“‘Jacare’ is the only guy out there who’s been vocal about fighting either Luke Rockhold or Yoel Romero. Nobody else is looking for this level of trouble, especially current UFC middleweight paper champion Michael Bisping. ‘Jacare’ has a tough challenge ahead of him (against Whittaker on Saturday) and this fight is what matters now.”

The former Strikeforce middleweight champion is 7-1 in the UFC, only losing a close split decision fight to Yoel Romero at UFC 194. Jacare has gone through and beat out the top competition in the UFC including names such as Gegard Mousasi and most recently Vitor Belfort and Tom Boetsch.

With a win over Whittaker at UFC on FOX 24, Jacare will surely hold more bargaining power with his contract negotiations with the UFC. However, we have recently seen Bellator scoop up a few fighters from the UFC during their period of free agency.

Do you think the UFC and Jacare will be able to come terms on a new contract? Let’s get your thoughts in the comment section!

on 4/10/2017.