Jacare Souza fights Costa Philippou at UFC on FX 8

It looks like the UFC's May 18th card in Brazil will be one of the more important events as far as the middleweight division is concerned. Vitor Belfort is fighting "current" Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the main event, and according to Ariel Helwani over at MMA Fighting, Ronaldo Souza will fight surging contender Costa Philippou on the same card:

MMAFighting.com has also confirmed that former Strikeforce middleweight king Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will meet Constantinos Philippou on the card, as well.

Jacare (17-3, 1 NC) submitted Ed Herman in January on Strikeforce's final show. The world-class grappler and two-time ADCC champion recorded a 7-1 record in Strikeforce, winning the middleweight belt by defeating Tim Kennedy in 2010. He successfully defended once against Robbie Lawler before losing to Luke Rockhold in September 2011. Jacare has since won his last 3, and along the way he notched his first career win by KO in August 2012 against Derek Brunson.

Philippou (12-2, 1 NC MMA; 5-1 UFC) rides a five-fight winning streak, and most recently TKOed Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 to notch the most important win of his career. It was an unexpected opportunity for Costa, whose teammate Chris Weidman was originally scheduled to face Boetsch before suffering a shoulder injury. It's certainly an impressive rise to contender status after failing to even make the house of TUF 11.

UFC on FX 8 takes place in Santa Catarina, Brazil, exactly one week before UFC 160 on Memorial Day weekend.

Latest From Our Partners

• MMA Fighters on the Hot Seat (BR)
• Most Indestructible UFC Fighters (BR)
• Top UFC Moments From Past Februarys(BR)
• Top 10 Weakest Punchers From MMA (BR)
• Best Knockouts of the Year so Far (BR)
• Top Moments From Matt Hughes' Career (BR)