UFC on FX 8 has given another former Strikeforce middleweight champion a key matchup at 185 pounds.
Just days after Luke Rockhold, the last reigning Strikeforce champ at 185 pounds, was announced to headline the card against Vitor Belfort, the UFC has now announced Ronaldo Souza versus Costa Philippou for the May 18 event.
MMA Fighting was the first media outlet to report the fight.
Philippou enters the matchup on the strength of a five-fight win streak, most recently pulling off a big upset over Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch at UFC 155 in December, catapulting him inside the division’s top 10.
On the other hand, Souza has won seven of his past eight fights, with his only loss being a close decision against Rockhold back in Sept. 2011.
While this matchup, hosted at the Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil, marks his Octagon debut, “Jacare” easily dispatched of UFC veteran Ed Herman at the last Strikeforce event in January.
Souza easily controlled the fight on the ground before locking up a brutal kimura from side control, earning the first-round submission.
A two-time gold medalist at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Championships, Souza will no doubt try to get this fight to the ground and add to his 13 submission victories.
Philippou provides an interesting test for the highly regarded Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, as the Serra-Longo Fight Team product is known for his precise boxing and exceptional takedown defense.
The winner of this fight will likely be inside the UFC’s middleweight top five and could need to have their hand raised just one more time before getting a showdown with divisional kingpin Anderson Silva.
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