Jacare Souza is aware that Anderson Silva has been promised a title opportunity with a win over Israel Adesanya.

On Feb. 9, Adesanya and Silva will do battle inside the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The bout will take place on the UFC 234 card. UFC president Dana White recently confirmed that if Silva wins, he’ll be granted a middleweight title opportunity.

Souza recently spoke to Portal do Vale Tudo. When asked about the state of the UFC middleweight title picture, Souza said the following of Silva (via BJPenn.com):

“The reality is that Anderson is coming back from doping. [He was] out of the rankings. I’m [not] going to start doing a lot of sh*t, cursing everyone that I might fight for belt. My principles, my values ​​are non-negotiable. If I deserve it, I will deserve it. If you give it to me or you will not give it to me, I will not change. I will not change. I am like that and that is my point of view. The reality is that when [myself] and Chris [Weidman] went to fight, there was a lot of respect. Everyone talked about this respect and everyone also talked about our fight. What we do outside the octagon has nothing to do with what we do inside.”

Souza has gone 2-2 in his last four outings. Losses to both Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum have seemingly taken him out of the title picture despite a knockout victory over Chris Weidman. Whittaker will defend his middleweight gold against Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234.