Costa Philippou has been forced to withdraw from his middleweight bout against Ronald “Jacare” Souza due to a cut suffered above his eye, sources close to the event confirmed with MMAfighting.com Friday morning.
No word just yet who, if anyone, will fight Souza on less than two weeks’ notice.
UFC on FX 8, headlined by Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold, will take place May 18 in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The Philippou-Souza tilt was scheduled to be the card’s co-main event.
Philippou (12-2, 1 NC) has won his last six fights in a row. He most recently defeated Tim Boetsch via third-round TKO at UFC 155.
Souza (17-3, 1 NC), the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, was scheduled to make his UFC debut next weekend. The Brazilian has won his last three in a row.