Ronaldo Souza vs. Costa Philippou slated for UFC On FX 8

News

A middleweight fight between two fighters looking to move up to title shot contention has been added to the recently-announced UFC On FX 8 event from Brazil in May.

Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza (17-3 1 NC, 0-0 UFC) will make his UFC debut against rising middleweight contender Costa Philippou (12-2 1 NC, 5-1 UFC) in a fight that will be part of the night’s main card.

Souza fought at Strikeforce’s final event in January when he scored a submission win over UFC middleweight Ed Herman. Souza has won three straight fights since losing the Strikeforce title to Luke Rockhold, with all three wins coming by stoppage.

Philippou has racked up an impressive five-fight win streak in the tough UFC middleweight division. He comes in off a third-round TKO win over Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 in December. He also holds wins over Jorge Rivera, Court McGee, Jared Hamman and Riki Fukuda inside the octagon.

UFC On FX 8 takes place on May 18 from Jaragua do Sul, Brazil. As announced yesterday, Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold will serve as the night’s main event.

Ryan Frederick has been a diehard mixed martial arts fan since he saw UFC 1 at the age of 7. Since then he has yet to miss a show. He also has loves for football, baseball and fine whiskey. He fell in love with covering MMA after having also covered baseball and football, both professional and college, while working towards a journalism degree at Texas Christian University. His work has been seen on FOXSports.com, InsideFights.com, WrestlingObserver.com, Bleacher Report and ToughTalkMMA.com.