Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is not happy about Anderson Silva’s potential title shot

UFC President Dana White recently divulged that the winner of Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya’s UFC 234 showdown is likely to get the next crack at the UFC middleweight belt. For Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who has been working to earn a UFC middleweight title shot for years, this was unwelcome news.

Speaking to Brazil’s Portal do Vale Tudo in his native Portuguese, Jacare sounded off on the UFC potentially giving a title shot to Anderson Silva, who was very recently tied up with a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspension.

See a rough translation of his comments below:

“The reality is that Anderson is coming back from doping,” he said. “[He was] out of the rankings.”

Jacare then admitted that he’s been tempted to change his strategy and start trash talking in hopes that it will earn him a title shot, but assured that that’s simply not his style.

“I’m going to start doing a lot of shit, cursing everyone that I might fight for belt,” he said. “My principles, my values ​​are non-negotiable. If I deserve it, I will deserve it. If you give it to me or you will not give it to me me, I will not change.”

“I will not change. I am like that and that is my point of view. The reality is that when I and Chris [Weidman] went to fight, there was a lot of respect. Everyone talked about this respect and everyone also talked about our fight. What we do outside the octagon has nothing to do with what we do inside.”

Interestingly, Jacare also doesn’t believe that Israel Adesanya is deserving of a title shot — especially not for knocking out Derek Brunson, who he himself has already beaten twice.

“He does not deserve,” he said. “He just won against Derek, who already came in scared, it was visible. What he did to Derek, I’m sorry, but I did it twice and I did better than him, and I’m not even a striker.”

What do you think of these comments from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza? Does the Anderson Silva vs. Israel Adesanya winner deserve a title shot?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/12/2018.