'Jacare' Souza’s manager suggests Chris Weidman fight could be next in UFC

Chris Weidman snapped his losing streak with a win over Kelvin Gastelum in July, and there’s a Brazilian middleweight who would like to meet him inside the Octagon.

Ronaldo Souza, who lost to future interim champion Robert Whittaker in April, is expected to return to training in October after undergoing surgery for a pectoral rupture a couple of weeks after the defeat, and his manager Gilberto Faria welcomes the idea of facing the "All-American" next.

"I believe that Weidman might be the next fight, in late-December or early-January, if that’s a good date for the UFC to book this fight,” Faria told MMA Fighting. “When we get closer to that date, we’ll see more clearly what the options are for Jacare’s next opponent."

Souza will only have an exact idea when he will be back in action after he comes back to training, Faria said.

According to the manager, the UFC has reached out to him offering fights with Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida for September and October, respectively, but the dates wouldn’t work. Rockhold ended up being booked against David Branch in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Pittsburgh, while Machida faces Derek Brunson at UFC Sao Paulo on Oct. 28.

“Jacare" (24-5, 1 no-contest) suffered only three defeats under the UFC and Strikeforce banners, including a close decision loss to Rockhold in 2011. He beat his other 14 opponents, including stoppage victories over Vitor Belfort, Gegard Mousasi, Robbie Lawler and Derek Brunson.