It appears the UFC is going to have a difficult time choosing the next title challenger at middleweight.
Following Chris Weidman's first-round demolition of Vitor Belfort at UFC 187, the promotion is tasked with finding the champion a new opponent, and two candidates are head-and-shoulders above the rest at 185 pounds.
The promotion's president, Dana White, spoke to FOX Sports' Ariel Helwani following Saturday's pay-per-view, and it's a two-horse race between Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.
"It took me so long to get here because Luke Rockhold had me in the hallway," White told Helwani, according to MMAFighting.com's David St. Martin. "Luke Rockhold said, 'Do not give this fight to Jacare. Jacare isn't going to try to come in and do what I'm going to do. You saw what I did to (Lyoto) Machida. That's exactly what I'm going to do to Weidman. Me and Weidman will go after each other. It'll be a stand-up fight. We'll do this, we'll do that. Let's do this thing in Las Vegas.'
"He was all over me back here. We'll see what happens."
White admitted Rockhold was the No. 1 contender, but in an interview with UFC correspondent Megan Olivi, White indicated he was leaning towards making Jacare the next next title challenger.
"So Jacare's manager hit me right after the fight and said, 'We're ready for Chris Weidman,' so it'll probably be Jacare vs. Weidman next. I don't know," White said. "Anything can happen. We'll see how this thing plays out. Luke Rockhold is obviously the No. 1 contender. We'll see what happens."
