With Philippou out, Camozzi-Souza, Natal-Zeferino now set for UFC on FX 8

With Constantinos Philippou (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) out of UFC on FX 8, there has been some shuffling on the main card.

Chris Camozzi (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) now will move up to fill in for Philippou to meet Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (17-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in the co-main event. And with Camozzi’s spot against Rafael Natal (15-4-1 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) vacated, promotional newcomer Joao Zeferino (13-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will fight on short notice.

UFC officials on Friday announced the new pairings while announcing the news of Philippou’s injury, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported earlier Friday.

UFC on FX 8 takes place May 18 at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The event’s main-card airs on FX following prelims on FUEL TV and Facebook.

Camozzi has won four straight fights. He went 3-0 in 2012 with stoppages of Dustin Jacoby and Nick Catone, plus a decision win over Luiz Cane at UFC 153 in Brazil. In March, he took a split decision from Nick Ring at UFC 158 in Montreal.

Souza enters the bout on a three-fight win streak for his UFC debut. He beat Tim Kennedy for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title in August 2010, then defended the belt with a submission win over Robbie Lawler. But Luke Rockhold took it from him with a unanimous decision win in September 2011. After that loss, “Jacare” stopped Bristol Marunde with a third-round submission, knocked out Derek Brunson in just 41 seconds and tapped out Ed Herman in the first round at Strikeforce’s final show in January.

Zeferino, a native of Brazil, will make his UFC debut on the strength of a seven-fight win streak, including a win over UFC veteran Sean Salmon. Of his 13 career victories, 10 have come by stoppage – including nine by submission.

Natal has won three of his past four fights, including a submission of Sean Spencer at UFC on FOX 6 in January. That got him back in the win column after a knockout loss to Andrew Craig in July, which snapped his two-fight UFC win streak.

The UFC on FX 8 card now includes

MAIN CARD (FX 9 p.m. ET)

• Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold
• Chris Camozzi vs. Ronaldo Souza
• Rafael Natal vs. Joao Zeferino
• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Evan Dunham

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV, 6 p.m. ET)

• Hacran Dias vs. Nik Lentz
• Mike Rio vs. Francisco Trinaldo
• Yuri Alcantara vs. Iliarde Santos
• Michel Richard dos Prazeres vs. Paulo Thiago*
• Azamat Gashimov vs. John Lineker
• Roger Hollett vs. Fabio Maldonado

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 4:30 p.m. ET)

• John Cholish vs. Gleison Tibau
• Chris Cariaso vs. Jussier Formiga
• Jeremy Larsen vs. Lucas Martins

For the latest on UFC on FX 8, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Chris Camozzi)