As friends and longtime training partners, Anderson Silva and Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza currently find themselves in an awkward situation. 

At completely different points in their respective careers, it looks like the two fighters are equally likely to fight for the UFC middleweight belt currently held by Michael Bisping. Still, as the better ranked of the two, "Jacare" made it clear that he wouldn't simply accept if his friend jumped the queue.

During a media day held this Wednesday at X-Gym headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, "Jacaré" trained with the former UFC champion and talked with the press. Speaking frankly, the Brazilian assured that he is the priority as far as future title shots are concerned.

"The friendship stays," Souza said. "But, of course, I would be upset because it is my turn and I am not a hypocrite who sugarcoats things. It's not all good at all. I would get super annoyed (should Silva get the title shot), but God bless. I always say that God really likes Anderson because he does a lot and practically everything works out. Even when he does it wrong, it works. So I want to be friends with the guy who is so dear to God," he added with a laugh.

While Souza has been campaigning for his title shot since last year when he easily defeated Vitor Belfort, the middleweight standout encountered a series of adversities that prevented him from actually challenging champion Michael Bisping. 

According to "Jacare," that is due to Bisping's resistance to accept him as an adversary.

Claiming that Souza wouldn't attract enough fans, Bisping started looking for the most recognizable names to share the octagon with, including athletes from other divisions and even Silva, who has not officially won a fight since October of 2012 and whom Bisping already beat, albeit barely, in 2016.

"I deserve to fight for the belt," Souza said. "Everyone knows and is tired of knowing that I am the most viable option for the UFC, both in the media and in the pay-per-view sale, and in everything. And everyone knows it was a disaster for Dan Henderson to fight with Bisping. They did not even show the number of pay-per-views they sold. It sure was a disaster. No one wanted to see that crap of a fight."

In his opinion, Souza is facing greater risks than the champion, as proven by his willingness to accept a fight against Tim Boetsch Feb. 11 at UFC 208. While Boetsch isn't currently ranked, he was the only option for Souza to keep active since any other high-profile middleweight fighters are unavailable as of now.

"They failed me, everybody knows that," Souza said. "But I do not feel wronged. I have a good salary, I have a fight now to do. I was told that I should not have accepted this fight. But I'm what, a dancer? A dancer dances, a singer sings, and a fighter does what? Fight. I've already gone about eight months without fighting since I beat Belfort. I was going to fight in November against Rockhold, but he withdrew, he was modeling. So, this fight is over and thank god the UFC gave me this opportunity to keep me going."

By Gabriel Monteiro/AG.Fight for FloCombat





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