It turns out Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort won’t be a five-round fight.
Initially planned as the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on May 14 in Brazil, the middleweight showdown was moved to the co-main event spot, "Jacare’s" manager Gilberto Faria told MMAFighting.com on Thursday.
The promotion has yet to officially announce its plans for the May 14 event in Brazil, but a report from Combate indicates that it could be moved from Fox Sports 1 to pay-per-view, labeled as UFC 198, and feature Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight championship in the main event.
"‘Jacare’ is going in for a fight on May 14," Faria told MMAFighting.com. "It’s confirmed we’re not in the main event anymore, but it’s not clear yet which is the main event. The fight went from five rounds to three, which favors Belfort."
"A five-round fight would favor ‘Jacare’ because of his endurance," he continued, "as he’s fought five rounds before, and people see Belfort as a dangerous opponent in the first rounds, so he would have to be more careful in the early rounds. They are both going for the finish, so I never saw this fight going five rounds anyway."
LINK: Manager: ‘Jacare’ Souza vs. Vitor Belfort moved to co-main event spot on May 14