Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has apparently been left out in the cold by Strikeforce. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion was the leading candidate to meet Luke Rockhold in a title bout in November. Instead, the bout was inexplicably given to Lorenz Larkin, who only has one middleweight fight under his belt. I assumed Jacare might be injured and that’s why he didn’t take the fight, but according to his manager Gilberto Feria, it was never even offered to him (via MMA Junkie):
“So far, we haven’t been contacted regarding ‘Jacare’ being on the (Nov. 3) card, but it would seem like not,” Faria said.
His manager also stated that Jacare wouldn’t be ready to fight on the November 3rd card against another opponent if they’re not informed soon:
“If he doesn’t get a call this week, it’s going to be too close to fight,” he said. “We’ve got to get back in the gym and be ready to rock and roll.”
But who could that possible opponent be. Maybe fellow BJJ wizard Roger Gracie?
Faria expressed warm feelings toward Gracie and said he wasn’t opposed to the potential matchup, though he thought it was perhaps a premature challenge for the Abu Dhabi champ.
“He’s a great guy,” Faria said. “Roger is still getting his feet wet at 185, but Jacare is a bad matchup for him right now.”
Either way, it’s pretty obvious we won’t be getting Rockhold/Jacare 2 anytime soon. And I’m not really sure why.