Chris Weidman: Luke Rockhold not a great fighter, less dangerous than 'Jacare' Souza

Chris Weidman is just a few days removed from his third consecutive title defense, one that came at the expense of Vitor Belfort last Saturday night (May 23, 2015) in Las Vegas, Nevada (highlights), and already the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight kingpin is looking ahead to his next challenge.

During his recent appearance on The MMA Hour, "All American" deconstructed two of his next potential foes, Ronaldo Souza and Luke Rockhold. And while he believes "Jacare" is the more dangerous of the two, he is also the one with the most holes in his game.

His assessment:

"I would expect a tough fighter in Rockhold, but I feel like I'm running right through any of these guys. He is well rounded but he's not great anywhere. He's not the best striker I ever fought. He's not the best wrestler I ever fought. He's not the best jiu-jitsu guy I ever fought. Jacare brings a different element. He's really good on the ground and he's probably more dangerous on the feet than Rockhold. Rockhold is well rounded and keeps a good solid pace going, doesn't make too many mistakes, they are completely two different fighters. But, if I had to say who is more dangerous, it would be Jacare. But, there is probably more holes in his game than Rockhold's. They both bring different elements to the game that I'd have to figure out and expose. I don't have a preference, either way I have to fight all these guys. And at some point I am going to show them they have no chance with me."

In Souza's view, he deserves the next crack at the title, seeing as how Luke was knocked out by Vitor Belfort in 2013; something Ronaldo has yet to experience.

Since that loss, however, Rockhold has gone on to win four straight -- all via stoppage -- including his most recent victory over Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15 (recap).

As far as Souza is concerned, he is on an even longer run, winning five in a row inside the Octagon to add to his eight-fight win streak, which dates back to his Strikeforce days when his last loss came to ... you guessed it -- Rockhold.

At the end of the day, Weidman doesn't care who he faces next, as long as he gets to enjoy the rest of his summer with his family before being called back into duty.