Weidman, Jacare on a collision course?

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is recovering from a Staph infection, and recently posted an image suggesting he is back in training; there is no word on when he will be able to fight. #1 ranked Yoel Romero and #2 Luke Rockhold fight for the interim belt at UFC 221 on February 10, 2018, in Perth, Australia. And a unification fight might take place in late spring or early summer.

In separate interviews, both #3 ranked Jacare Souza and #4 Chris Weidman talked about where they fit, and it might be vs. each other.

Weidman reinjured his thumb while fighting Kelvin Gastelum in July and had a ligament taken from his wrist and put into his thumb. Khabib Nurmagomedov had similar surgery and told Weidman it took eight months to stop hurting. In the meantime, Weidman has been doing television work with MSG Network, and appeared enthusiastic about making it a career once his fight career is over. But it’s not over.

I’m not gonna get into a training camp and I can’t train, said Weidman to Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. I’m not gonna accept any fights until I can punch and grapple without bad pain.

I can see myself potentially jumping in there for a title shot against maybe the winner of the fight coming up, depending on Whittaker’s health. I’d get a rematch with Rockhold which has been a long time coming. We were supposed to have that rematch right away and my surgery held that up. Or Yoel Romero. Both those fights would be great. If not that, you got Jacare who just came off a great win.

I love Jacare. I’m a fan of Jacare. I just feel like he would be a great test for me. We’ve been around each other for a long time in the division. We never fought. And I would love to test myself against him.

In an interview for MMA Fighting with he who knows all in Brazil, Guilherme Cruz, Jacare was game. He, too, had surgery in the past year, but shone vs. Derek Brunson in less than four minutes at UFC on FOX 27. Jacare stunned Brunson with a headkick, and didn’t explode forward. Instead, he walked down and f***ed him all.

After the surgeries I had, being there the way I was was a miracle for me,” he said. “I was happy. I know that if I’m healthy and happy, I will always do good things inside the Octagon.

I’ve rushed forward a few times before and woke up my opponent up with punches. I’m more calm now. I take a look and connect the punches in the right spot to make sure my opponent goes out.

They are always complicating things for me. Rockhold just beat David Branch, who came from another promotion, and is fighting for the belt. The criteria is different with me, I always have to fight one more time. I honestly think that I have to fight one more, but why only me? Rockhold just beat Branch, man, and is fighting for an interim belt? Do you get what I’m saying?

Jacare, 38, who recently moved with his family to Florida, and has shifted his camp from X-Gym in Rio de Janeiro to Fusion X-cel Performance, would take a fight with Weidman.

It’s a fight that makes sense, said Souza. I never turned down a fight, especially a good fight like this. It would be a huge pleasure to fight him. This is the fight that makes sense now. I don’t know if he’s healthy because he just has hand surgery. What I know is that I’m super healthy. I’ll give my body a few days to rest, celebrate my anniversary a lot more, and then I’ll be back to training.

Jacare said he would fight again in three or four months, and that a possible PPV event in Rio de Janeiro in May would be insanely great.