Gegard Mousasi vs. 'Jacare' Souza headed to UFC Fight Night 50 in Connecticut

The UFC’s return to Connecticut in September has a high-profile fight headed its way thanks to the scrapping of UFC 176.

The fight between former Strikeforce champions Ronaldo Souza (20-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) and Gegard Mousasi (35-4-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) that originally was set for the co-main event of UFC 176 now will take place at UFC Fight Night 50. It is not yet known if the fight will retain co-main event status or if it will be elevated to the headlining position.

UFC President Dana White announced the news on Twitter.

UFC Fight Night 50 takes place Sept. 5 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. It’s a rare Friday night show for the UFC – and falls on the same night as Bellator 123 in nearby Uncasville, less than 10 miles away. The bulk of the UFC Fight Night 50 card is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following a few prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

UFC 176 had been set for Aug. 2 at Staples Center in Los Angeles until the promotion pulled the plug on the pay-per-view on Tuesday night, about a week after featherweight champion Jose Aldo was forced out of his main event rematch against Chad Mendes.

Mousasi is now coming off a main-event win over Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 41 in Berlin in May. There, he choked out Munoz in the first round to get back in the win column after a five-round unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC Fight Night 36 in February. Mousasi was Strikeforce’s light heavyweight champion, but lost the belt in his first title defense.

His fight with “Jacare” will be a rematch. Mousasi won the duo’s first meeting via upkick knockout in the 2008 DREAM middleweight grand prix final. It earned him the now-defunct promotion’s middleweight belt.

Souza won his sixth straight fight and stayed perfect in the UFC when he took a decision from Francis Carmont at UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil. His first two UFC wins were first-round stoppages – a submission of Chris Camozzi in May 2013 and a TKO of Yushin Okami in September. “Jacare” won the Strikeforce middleweight title against TIm Kennedy in August 2010 and defended it against Robbie Lawler in January 2011. But he lost the belt to Luke Rockhold later that year before going on his current six-fight tear, which includes five stoppages.

The latest UFC Fight Night 50 card now includes:

• Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo Souza
• Michael Chiesa vs. Joe Lauzon
• Andre Fili vs. Sean Soriano

For the latest on the canceled UFC 176, as well as UFC Fight Night 50, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Ronaldo Souza)