Who’s next? Cerrone gets title shot, Rockhold or Jacare next for Weidman, Cormier ‘we’ll see’

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UFC president Dana White spoke with Megan Olivi post UFC 187 and touched on some of Saturday night’s highest highlights. White started with John Makdessi, who courageously stood and traded with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone until his jaw broke. Cerrone now gets a title shot, at long last.

Andrei Arlovski, 36, was nearly pulled from the fight with a calf injury, but of course defeated Travis Browne.

White also discussed who is next for UFC middleweight Chris Weidman.

“So Jacare’s manager hit me right after the fight and said ‘We’re ready for Chris Weidman,’ so it’ll probably be Jacare vs. Weidman next.”

Olivi then asked White point blank “So not Luke Rockhold?”

White then indicated that probably does not mean definitely.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Anything can happen. We’ll see how this thing plays out. Luke Rockhold is obviously the No. 1 contender. We’ll see what happens.”

White expressed identical sentiments in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

“It took me so long to get here because Luke Rockhold had me in the hallway overthere,” said White. “Luke Rockhold said, ‘Do not give this fight to Jacare. Jacare isn’t going to try to come in and try to do what I’m going to do. You saw what I did to Machida. That’s exactly what I’m going to do to Weidman. Me and Weidman will go after each other. It’ll be a stand-up fight. We’ll do this, we’ll do that. Let’s do this thing in Las Vegas as soon as …’ He was all over me there.”

Helwani asked White of Rockhold was next.

“We’ll see what happens,” said White.

Helwani pressed, asking if Rockhold was the #1 contender.

“He is,” said White. “He is. Jacare’s manager texted me after the fight and said, ‘He’s ready to go.’ You know? So I don’t know. We’ll see what happens here.”

Rockhold has a win over Jacare, but it was back in 2011, in StrikeForce, so it may not calculate in White’s decision.

For his part, Rockhold is adamant that the next title fight is his.

I don’t know what the hell they’re doing, but it’s guaranteed that that’s my shot, said Rockhold to Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie. It’s happening. They’ll be a date locked down soon. We’re fighting. I talked to Dana, and we got some things coming.

:I think (in) September, there might be a date here (in Las Vegas). Maybe we could turn it around quick and like I said, I could give him that rematch (in New York).

I want to fight. I want to get that fight, but MSG if worth waiting for. There are still some hoops to jump through to get there. I’m hoping for the best.

I think I’m better on the ground, and I think I’m better on the feet. I think this becomes more of a standup fight. Chris is tough, technical and he hits hard. But I’ve got more finesse. I’ve got more footwork and more weapons. You’re going to see a great fight.

White also told Helwani that he did not know what was happening with Jon Jones, and thus did not know who Cormier’s first title defense would be against.

White did not mention John Dodson, who wants a rematch with Demetrious Johnson.

“It’s a no-brainer for me,” said Dodson at the post-fight press conference, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting.com. “I always still want to beat up Demetrious Johnson. I want to knock him out.”

“I thought I won the first time that me and him faced each other and I believe the next time it comes around the outcome is gonna be way different,” Dodson said. “I’m gonna still go out there, beat him up and I’m gonna get a clear decision or a clear victory by knocking him out.”

And at the close of the Olivi interview, White summed up the night.

“This is what people pay for,” he said.