It may be a few months away but Vitor Belfort is now set to take on Jacare Souza on May 14th in Brazil. Yes, Belfort was set to take on Anderson Silva but dropped out of that bout in hopes to face off with new Middleweight Luke Rockhold who he holds knockout victory over. It looks like those plans fell through though, but it looks like he has the next best thing in a potential number one contenders bout.
Belfort has been at the top of the heap since his return to the UFC in 2011 and knocked out former champion Rich Franklin in the first round. He followed that up by dropping to Middleweight and facing Anderson Silva for the title but was knocked out promptly himself with an unexpected front kick to the face. Two subsequent finishes put him back in line at 185, but a jump to 205 had him taking on Jon Jones which he almost pulled off with an armbar but was finished in the fourth round. Then the advent of try made him whole new fighter and three straight victories in 2013 put him next in line to face Chris Weidman, but injuries on both sides made that fight take place over a year later and Belfort was vanquished again. Now, he seems poised for one more title shot if he can best a fellow Brazilian in Jacare.
Jacare Souza himself has been clamoring for a title shot ever since he jumped over from Strikeforce but timing and bad luck have stymied his chances. Jacare lost his Strikeforce title back in 2011 but has been on a tear since winning eight straight. unfortunately, a lot of his big opponents dropped out, mostly Yoel Romero, which left him facing opponents on short notice. He won five straight fights int he UFC, with four finishes, but two of those were Chris Camozzi, but big wins over Gegard Mousasi and Yushin Okami anchored his resume. A lot of people felt he beat Yoel Romero for the next title shot, but the judge did not. Whatever the case may be, he now has a chance to redeem himself with Romero’s recently failed drug test which makes him ineligible to fight. At 26 and 28 years old though, Jacare and Belfort may be looking at their last shot with a win in this fight at a title.