Manager: Doping or not, 'Jacare' beat Yoel Romero and we want Luke Rockhold next
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza already believes he defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 194, so the news that the Cuban born middleweight was flagged for a potential anti-doping violation didn't change his opinion on the outcome.
“Jacare” lost in a very close, split decision to Romero in December, but these latest allegations could potentially overturn the result if the former Olympian is found guilty of testing positive for a banned substance.
Regardless of the outcome, “Jacare” is now targeting a middleweight title shot that he believes should have been his with a win over Romero at UFC 194, and he'll be ready to fight as early as April.
"I just spoke to ‘Jacare’ and we talked about it and pretty much this is going to be his message -- doping or not, we won that fight," Souza's manager Gilberto Faria told FOX Sports on Tuesday.
"Now the ranking makings sense and right now to be fair, is ‘Jacare’ versus Luke Rockhold. And we'll be ready in April for that."
“Jacare” actually faced Rockhold in Strikeforce in 2011 in a fight where he lost his middleweight title to the up and comer from California.
Currently, Souza is ranked No. 3 in the world behind Romero and former champion Chris Weidman but with these latest accusations against his last opponent, the Brazilian submission specialist could overtake his position and move him closer to a potential title shot in 2016.
