Weidman vs. Jacare is done, per Dana White. UFC trying to keep David Branch, who was scheduled to fight Jacare, on the card. Jared Cannonier is a possibility, but not done.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 20, 2018
After the dust settled following Luke Rockhold’s injury withdrawal from UFC 230 rematch against Chris Weidman, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has stepped in to face Weidman.
Following his initial report this evening, Brett Okamoto of ESPN confirmed that ‘Jacare’ would be elevated from his middleweight bout against David Branch into the co-main event against Weidman. Branch currently has no opponent at UFC 230, although the Ultimate Fighting Championship is attempting to secure a replacement for Souza.
Coming off a “Fight of the Night” split-decision loss to current middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum last May, Souza has earned four post-fight bonuses in his last five fights.
Facing a major opponent change is Weidman, who has never been submitted in his career. His last win was a submission over Gastelum in July 2017, his first since losing his belt to Rockhold in 2015.
UFC 230 is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis. In the span of 10 days, UFC has changed its co-main event twice, starting with lightweights Dustin Poirier vs Nate Diaz, then moving to Rockhold vs Weidman before this news.