Luke Rockhold: No offense to Jacare, I am the number one contender

UFC on FOX 15 was a big night for the UFC middleweight division as three of the top 185 pound fighters in the world were fighting and it was Luke Rockhold that made the biggest statement on the card.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

In the main event, Rockhold (14-2) did something that not many people outside of his inner circle thought would happen. He dominated Machida early in the opening round and ended up finishing the fight in the second round.

While a majority of people felt this would be a fight that would last 25 minutes, Rockhold said all week that he felt he could finish the fight on the ground.

“I told you what I was going to do,” Rockhold said during the post fight press conference. “If it touched the ground, we are going to be operating on different frequencies. I knew that I could dominate him. I just got good position and not many people can get away from me. I thought that he would be faster on the feet and I could start finding his timing. I was a little sluggish at first, but I started to find out my timing.”

Also on this fight card, former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza scored another submission victory as he defeated Chris Camozzi in the first round. Camozzi was not the initial opponent for Jacare, as he was scheduled to meet Yoel Romero. Camozzi took this fight on six days notice and is an unranked fighter in the UFC. While Jacare is on a five fight winning streak and is undefeated in the UFC, Rockhold believes he deserves the title shot and pointed out how he does hold a victory over Jacare.

“I said it before and I will say it again, this is my show,” he said. “I was going to come out here and make it my show. Dominate whether he was fighting Yoel or not. No offense to Jacare, I am the number one contender. I am the best guy around. It’s my title shot. I have dominated everyone in my path and I beat Jacare. I deserve it.”

The UFC middleweight title is scheduled to be on the line next month when champion Chris Weidman defends the title against Vitor Belfort. Just like most people, Rockhold feels that Weidman will retain the title next month and he wants to be the guy to take the belt from Weidman.

“That is what I foresee. Things always happen the way I dream them up and I dreamed this one up with Lyoto. I believe Weidman is going to go out there and handle his business. It looks like we are going to march into New York and we can have a good old fashion Shake Shack versus In and Out Burger. Let’s do it.”

UFC President Dana White would not comment on who will get the next title shot in the UFC 185 pound division as he wants to see what happens with Weidman and Belfort next month. As long as the winner of the fight comes out healthy and Rockhold is healthy, all signs point to the American Kickboxing Academy fighter being next for a title shot.