UFC middleweight Jacare Souza has been knocking on the door of a middleweight title fight for quite some time now. The top ranked middleweight is currently gearing up for his highly anticipated UFC on FOX 24 scrap with Robert Whittaker this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, where he will look to move one step closer to a middleweight title shot.

Ahead of that fight, Jacare Souza has been very open about the fact that he isn’t too happy with the UFC for booking a middleweight title fight between Michael Bisping and former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for 2017.

Ahead of his fight with Whittaker, Souza spoke to MMAJunkie to discuss the middleweight title picture, and plead with his fellow top ranked middleweights to remain active despite the holdup on potential middleweight title fights.

“I’m healthy and I’m ready for a fight. I don’t sit and wait for a title shot because I need to fight and I’m a professional. I need to stay ready for all opponents, and I come to work. I don’t sit there and wait for a special fight.”

“I’m ready for a challenge,” he said. “I can’t sit in my home waiting for Bisping. He’s a disaster for the middleweight division. He’s stopped the whole middleweight division. Right now, we need fights – me, Romero, Luke and Mousasi. We need to stay in the octagon because Bisping – he doesn’t fight any tough opponents. He’s afraid. I can’t believe Michael Bisping is afraid of Luke or Romero. It’s serious. Me, Romero, Luke and Mousasi, we need fights. We need to stay in the octagon. The winner of us four should fight for the belt – the fans need a good fight. I’m here to deliver.”

With numerous top contenders at middleweight including Souza, Luke Rockhold, and Gegard Mousasi, one thing is certain…the UFC isn’t short on middleweight challengers.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/14/2017.