'Jacare' targets July for rematch with Rockhold

Ronaldo Souza is dying for a chance to settle some unfinished business.

In a Thursday interview with Brazil's Estadao, "Jacare" said he's set his sights on a July date with fellow Strikeforce alum Luke Rockhold, who's currently nursing a torn ACL that kept him from rematching Souza at UFC Fight Night 101 this past November. The 37-year-old dropped a unanimous decision to Rockhold while fighting under the Strikeforce banner in September 2011, a verdict he alleges was an inside job.

"Everybody knows he's running away from me, that's why he invented an injury," Souza said, according to Bloody Elbow's Lucas Rezende. "I heard he wants to fight me, so I'll talk with the UFC so we can meet in July. I want to fight him because he's one of the top contenders, not to maintain myself relevant. He had a friend of his to judge the fight the first time we fought. The guy gave him all five rounds, that was absurd. I was robbed."

Just six days removed from his first-round submission of Tim Boetsch at UFC 208, Souza is doubling down on his plan to remain active until he's tapped for a long-awaited shot at the middleweight title. The Brazilian has won two straight and seven of eight in the Octagon, while Rockhold was left seeing stars in his last outing, a first-round knockout at UFC 199 that cost him the divisional title, courtesy of reigning champ Michael Bisping.