Jacare Souza’s manager fires back at Michael Bisping for “running”

Several weeks ago, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping made headlines when he and former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre seemed poised for a fight at UFC 206 in Toronto. Unfortunately, as the story developed, St-Pierre took to social media to reveal that negotiations between he and the UFC didn’t go well, and he would be unable to fight Bisping at UFC 206.

Bisping followed up St-Pierre’s statement with one of his own, in which he revealed that he was now set on fighting at UFC 206, and would be willing to fight whoever on the card, so long as he could just get a fight.

The following week, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold withdrew from his upcoming ‘UFC Fight Night: Australia’ fight with Jacare Souza, leading many to wonder whether or not the UFC would give Bisping a fight with Jacare on UFC 206.

During a recent appearance on UFC Tonight, Bisping explained that while he was willing to fight GSP on the card, he would have done so simply for the massive payout despite the fact that he was injured. ‘The Count’ went on to explain that he wouldn’t be willing to fight Souza on UFC 206 because of his injuries following UFC 204, as well as the fact that the payout wouldn’t be nearly as massive.

During an interview with MMAFighting, Jacare Souza’s manager, Gilberto Faria, fired back at Bisping:

“Michael Bisping is running from ‘Jacare.'” Faria said. “He is so scared of him. He’d rather fight someone like Dominick Cruz, who I would put my money on, by the way.”

While Bisping has been on a tear of the middleweight division, going on a 5-fight win streak that has seen him go 3-0 throughout 2016, Souza himself has also been on a tear, going 6-1 since joining the UFC, with his only loss being a controversial split decision to Yoel Romero at UFC 194.

With no word yet as to who will get the next middleweight title shot, Romero will likely be tuned in to UFC 205 on November 12th, where Chris Weidman and Yoel Romero will fight in a potential #1 contender matchup.