Derek Brunson vs. 'Jacare' slotted for Charlotte's UFC on FOX 27 headliner

Derek Brunson and Ronaldo Souza apparently are going to rematch after all.

“Jacare” (24-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who’s No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, and No. 11-ranked Brunson (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) recently drummed up interest in the fight on social media, though they couldn’t seen to agree on a date or location.

But Souza’s preference for a meeting at UFC Fight Night 125, which takes place Feb. 3 at Mangueirinho Gymnasium in the Brazilian city of Belem, seems to be nixed. Instead, Brunson gets his wish for a fight at UFC on FOX 27, which takes place Jan. 27 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

UFC President Dana White suggested the fight was set on Tuesday, though he didn’t give a date. According to ESPN.com, however, Brunson said it’ll serve as UFC on FOX 27’s headliner.

Three of Brunson’s past four bouts have taken place outside of the U.S. (Australia, New Zealand and Brazil), so the North Carolina native is undoubtedly happy to get a fight closer to home.

Brunson, who’s coming off back-to-back knockout wins over Daniel Kelly and ex-champ Lyoto Machida (with a narrow and somewhat controversial decision loss to Anderson Silva before that), looks for redemption against Souza. The two 185-pounders fought in 2012 under the Strikeforce banner, where “Jacare” picked up a 41-second knockout win.

Brunson’s career seemed to turn a corner after that loss, and he continued fighting top names. The 33-year-old is 9-3 since then.

Souza, meanwhile, was on a 10-1 run that followed the loss of his Strikeforce belt to Luke Rockhold in 2011. However, in his most recent fight, the 37-year-old Brazilian suffered a TKO loss to now-interim champ Robert Whittaker in April.

The latest UFC on FOX 27 card includes:

• Derek Brunson vs. Ronaldo Souza
• Ilir Latifi vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Juliana Lima vs. Randa Markos
• Mara Romero Borella vs. Katlyn Chookagian
• Justine Kish vs. Ji Yeon Kim

For more on UFC on FOX 27, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.