‘Jacare’ Souza vs. Chris Weidman on UFC’s radar, according to manager

A pivotal middleweight bout between Ronaldo Souza and Chris Weidman could be in the works, according to Souza’s manager, Gilberto Faria.

Faria told Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting in a recent interview that ‘All-American’ is being targeted for late-December or early next year.

"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,” he said. “When we get closer to that date, we’ll see more clearly what the options are for Jacare’s next opponent."

Souza, 37, hasn’t fought since he lost to newly-crowned interim champion Robert Whittaker in April. The Brazilian was knocked out with a head kick and punches and was forced to undergo surgery for a pectoral (shoulder) rupture shortly after the bout.

Jacare was reportedly offered fights against Luke Rockhold and Lyoto Machida but was forced to turn them down due to injury. Rockhold, the former 185-pound champ, returned to action against David Branch at last night’s UFC Fight Night card and picked up a second round stoppage.

Souza’s targeted opponent, Weidman, snapped a three-fight losing streak at UFC on FOX 25, finishing Kelvin Gastelum with an arm-triangle choke in the third round. The New Yorker is renown for beating Anderson Silva in back-to-back fights at UFC 162 and UFC 168.

Jacare and Weidman could end up fighting at UFC 219 on Dec. 30 - the very last pay-per-view of the year.