‘Jacare’ Souza calls George St. Pierre a ‘chicken’, vows to break his neck if he moves up to middleweight

It’s still unclear who will get the first crack at UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, and Ronaldo Souza is pissed off with the possibility of being left aside one more time. "Jacare" underwent knee surgery after beating Vitor Belfort on May 14, and told MMA Fighting on Wednesday that he’s good to go whenever the UFC calls.

"I can guarantee you that I’m physically better than anyone in the middleweight division today," Souza said. "I’m training, running, jumping. I’m healthier and physically better than anyone in this division.

"Whenever they book the fight, and I’m sure it’s going to be for the belt, I’ll start my camp. No one has earned it more than me. I’m just waiting for the call from the UFC. I believe they will look at it in a meritocracy aspect, and it can’t be anyone but me. I’m waiting for the date."

Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and even Georges St-Pierre publicly asked for the fight, and "Jacare" is confident that he’s the No. 1 choice.

"I never underestimate anyone, and won’t underestimate Bisping," he said. "I don’t know why everybody is calling him out when they won’t deserve to fight him. They don’t know where they are going when they didn’t even earn it. Dan Henderson is way behind, there’s no possibility he fights Bisping. It’s disrespectful to both of us, the No. 1 contender and the champion.

"I honestly don’t give a damn (about Henderson). I think it would be wonderful if he fought for a title before retiring, but not in front of me. You have to earn it. Beat a top of the division first. He’s coming off many losses. If he wants to fight Bisping, he has to wait for his turn. Dan Henderson can’t fight for the title. It’s impossible. It won’t happen."

"Jacare" had strong words for St-Pierre, who said on "The MMA Hour" that Bisping would be his "first choice" for his UFC comeback.

"St-Pierre never fought at middleweight. I don’t know what he’s doing here," said the Brazilian. "To me, he’s a chicken. If I get him, I’ll break him in half. He’s retired and wants to fight for the title in a division he never fought before? He always ran away from Anderson (Silva), ran from fighting at 185, and now he wants the belt?"

"Look, I’ll give him this chance, and it’s going to be easy for me," he continued. "I would pass on fighting for the belt only to fight him if he moves up. He’s a chicken. If he wants to move up, I would let Bisping for later, since I know I’m the next in line. If he wants to move up, I want him. I will break his neck."

With nine wins in his last 10 fights, being that loss a controversial decision against Yoel Romero last December, Souza contests Bisping’s idea that "nobody cares" about him and that fight wouldn’t do good pay-per-view numbers.

"People have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t know where they got that from," "Jacare" said. "I fought (Gegard) Mousasi in the United States and the whole crowd was in my favor. I fought the most popular fighter in Brazil, who is also very popular around the world, and the whole crowd was rooting for me. Fans are supporting me on social media. Aside from that, I’m ready to fight and ready to sell pay-per-views."