UFC on FX 8 preview: 20 facts about ‘Belfort vs Rockhold' in Brazil on May 18

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heads to Brazil for the second time this year as UFC on FX 8: "Belfort vs. Rockhold" goes down this Saturday night (May 18, 2013) from Santa Catarina, a city the organization has yet to visit in six trips to the South American nation.

Home country hero Vitor Belfort will compete in the main event of the evening when he welcomes ex-Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold to the Octagon for the first time in a five-round middleweight main event.

With the event just days away, let's take a few minutes to review some event-related facts about UFC on FX 8.
Check them out:

1. Rockhold was the only fighter in Strikeforce history to defend the middleweight championship twice. He is tied with Cung Le for the most finishes in Strikeforce history (seven) and tied with Tim Kennedy for most submission victories in Strikeforce history (five).
2. Belfort's only career defeats have come to fighters who have won a tournament championship or held an undisputed championship in the UFC, Pride or Strikeforce.
3. Sixteen of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete on the card are Brazilian, which ties UFC 153 for the second most ever on a UFC fight card behind UFC 147 (21 Brazilian fighters).
4. In a combined 36 professional fights, Rafael Natal and his opponent Joao Zeferino have zero submission defeats.
5. Rafael dos Anjos can tie T.J. Grant for the second longest UFC active win-streak in the lightweight division at four. Champion Benson Henderson leads the category with seven-straight wins.
6. Ronaldo Souza has submitted his opponent in 13 of his 17 professional victories (11 in the first round). His opponent, Chris Camozzi, has suffered three of his five professional defeats by submission.
7. Gleison Tibau has completed 66 takedowns in his UFC career, second in UFC history. Georges St. Pierre holds the record with 84 completed takedowns. Tibau also holds the UFC record for highest takedown defense accuracy. Tibau stops 93.1% of his opponent's takedown attempts (Minimum of five UFC fights and 20 TD attempts by opponents).
8. Nik Lentz has fought all 11 of his UFC bouts on the preliminary portion of the card.
9. In a combined 32 victories, Belfort and Rockhold have finished their opponent by (technical) knockout or submission in 26 fights (23 in the first round).
10. Lucas Martins competes in his 14th MMA bout since turning professional in Sept. 2011 - a span of 615 days.
11. UFC has held six events in Brazil dating back to 1998. At those six events, Brazilian fighters are 27-9 when facing opponents from other countries.
12. Belfort is undefeated (3-0) in his career when fighting in his home country of Brazil.
13. Jussier da Silva's only career defeats come to top flyweight contenders John Dodson and Ian McCall.
14. All four of Iuri Alcantara's UFC bouts have taken place in Brazil. UFC on FX 8 will be is fifth. He is 2-1 with one "No Contest" to date.
15. Belfort holds the UFC record for most first-round finishes (10).
16. Camozzi can tie Francis Carmont, Chris Weidman and Constantinos Philippou for the second longest active UFC win-streak in the middleweight division (five) behind champion Anderson Silva (12-straight middleweight wins).
17. Tibau will fight inside the Octagon for the 19th time in the last six years and six months. No other fighter has competed in more UFC bouts in that time frame.
18. After starting his UFC career with a 3-1 record, Paulo Thiago has lost four of his last five UFC bouts.
19. Da Silva vs. Chris Cariaso is just the fifth flyweight fight in the UFC this year -- the least for any division behind women's bantamweight (three bouts).
20. Belfort's 119-day turnaround from his last fight is his shortest since a 112-day gap between Pride bouts in 2006.

That's a wrap for this set of UFC facts.

Did you learn anything new/interesting? Do any of the facts change your perspective on Saturday's fights?

Let us know below!

(Some information courtesy of UFC, FightMetric and MMADecisions)

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