'Jacare' and Derek Brunson agree to rematch, but then things get complicated

Ronaldo Souza and Derek Brunson have apparently agreed to a fight; when it’ll happen remains a point of contention, though.

On Monday, the two UFC middleweights, who previously fought under the Strikeforce banner, discussed the potential rematch on Twitter, though the date and location appear unresolved.

According to “Jacare” (24-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who’s No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, he accepted the fight with No. 11-ranked Brunson (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) for UFC Fight Night 125, which takes place Feb. 3 at Mangueirinho Gymnasium in the Brazilian city of Belem (via Twitter):

However, according to Brunson, he accepted the bout for UFC on FOX 27, which takes place Jan. 27 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. (via Twitter):

As Brunson was quick to retweet, three of his past four bouts have taken place outside of the U.S. (Australia, New Zealand and Brazil), so the North Carolina native would surely enjoy a fight in his home state.

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), would actually be looking 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.

For more on UFC Fight Night 125 and UFC on FOX 27, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.