NEW YORK – Ronaldo Souza expects to compete for UFC gold if he can get past Chris Weidman at UFC 230.
“Jacare” (25-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has been circling a title shot for quite some time but has failed to come through in the biggest moments of his career. He gets another opportunity at UFC 230, though, and if he can defeat former UFC middleweight champ Weidman (14-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), he imagines logic would lead to him challenging for the belt next year.
“I believe the natural order of things going (would get me a title shot),” Souza told reporters, including MMAjunkie, through an interpreter at UFC 230 open workouts. “Chris Weidman said the same thing, so if it works for him, it works for me, as well.”
UFC 230 takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Souza vs. Weidman co-headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Originally, Souza was scheduled to fight David Branch at UFC 230. However, when Luke Rockhold suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw from the matchup with Weidman, the UFC opted to bump Souza up the card.
With the change of opponent, Souza said he had to alter the final days of his preparation.
“I had to do some adjustments to my game,” Souza said. “He’s a great jiu-jitsu guy, good wrestler guy, so I had to learn that part – takedown defense and jiu-jitsu. He’s got excellent jiu-jitsu. He’s a monster in the ground game.”
Although he had to make adjustments in the wake of the new pairing with Weidman, the Brazilian knew what he was getting into when he agreed to the change. A matchup with Weidman has seemed inevitable in the 185-pound division for quite some time, and Souza said he’ll be ready for it.
“It’s a challenge to fight a guy like Chris Weidman, a champion, in his home town,” Souza said. “It’s an honor, and I’m just going to go in there and put on an exciting fight.
“It’s a great opportunity because he’s at the top of the division.”
To hear more from Souza, check out the video above.
For more on UFC 230, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
