Title Contender Not Interested In UFC Headliner Against David Branch
David Branch claiming is that one title contender is holding up a fight for an upcoming UFC event.
The former World Series of Fighting champion took to his official Twitter account last week to claim that Ronaldo Souza is holding up a fight with him that would serve as the main event for an upcoming UFC Fight Night event.
Branch, who asked for the fight, claims that Souza is not “isn’t feeling confident enough” to sign on. Branch did note that the fight was supposed to take place on August 22nd but likely means September 22nd.
There is a Fight Night event that is set to take place on 9/22 in São Paulo, Brazil at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera.
The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 while the preliminary card will be split broadcasted on FOX Sports 1 and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
I just want to be clear to everyone I’ve been offered to fight JACARE main event August 22nd in Brazil and he’s not feeling confident enough to take the fight. @arielhelwani @DamonMartin @bokamotoESPN @sherdogdotcom @NewYorkRic @lthomasnews
— David Branch (@DavidcBranchMMA) June 12, 2018
Officially we were being told by the ufc the man who calls himself the alligator has been neutered @JacareMMA has declined to fight in his Homeland.
— David Branch (@DavidcBranchMMA) June 19, 2018
This leads us to Souza who has gone on record by stating that he wants to fight Yoel Romero or Kelvin Gastelum next.
Souza’s manager gave a statement to MMA Fighting to confirm that although they were offered a fight against Branch, they would not be accepting the fight.
“Dave Branch was offered to us twice in 18 months. and ‘Jacare’ agreed both times, but he jumped ship,” Gilberto Faria said. “‘Jacare’ wants to fight someone ranked higher in the middleweight division, like rematches with Yoel Romero or Kelvin Gastelum, or a fight with Chris Weidman.
“It doesn’t make sense to fight Dave Branch now,” he continued. “‘Jacare’ is not in a hurry, he will sit down like everyone else does and wait for a bigger fight. ‘Jacare’ has always fought opponents ranked lower than him, and it’s time to face someone ahead of him.”
