Fabio Maldonado replaces Junior Dos Santos, faces Stipe Miocic at TUF Brazil 3 Finale
Light heavyweight slugger Fabio Maldonado (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) will move up to the heavyweight division to face Stipe Miocic (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the headlining bout of this month’s TUF Brazil 3 Finale.
Brazilian outlet Combate first reported the change, and MMAjunkie has since confirmed the move with multiple sources close to the event.
Maldonado steps in for an injured Junior dos Santos, who was forced to withdraw from the card after fracturing his hand in training.
The TUF Brazil Finale takes place May 31 at Sao Paulo’s Ibirapuera Gymnasium. The evening’s main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following preliminary bouts that stream on UFC Fight Pass.
While Brazilian fans unquestionably would have preferred to see dos Santos in the fight, Maldonado is a true showman who will certainly bring a fight to Miocic. Riding a three-fight winning streak, Maldonado fought most recently in March, where it looked like he was well on his way to a loss to Gian Villante. However, the gritty boxing specialist powered through and seemed to strengthen as the fight wore on, battling back to batter Villante and pick up a thrilling decision win.
Miocic has won two straight after a “Fight of the Night†loss to Stefan Struve in September 2012, the first loss of his career. He rebounded with decision wins over Roy Nelson at UFC 161 and Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC on FOX 10.
With the new main event, the TUF Brazil 3 Finale lineup now includes.
MAIN CARD
Fabio Maldonado vs. Stipe Miocic
opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – “TUF: Brazil 3″ middleweight tourney final
opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – “TUF: Brazil 3″ heavyweight tourney final
Demian Maia vs. Alexander Yakovlev
Rony Jason vs. Robert Peralta
PRELIMINARY CARD
Diego Brandao vs. Brian Ortega
Ernest Chavez vs. Elias Silverio
Rodrigo Damm vs. Rashid Magomedov
Paulo Thiago vs. Gasan Umalatov
Mark Eddiva vs. Kevin Souza
Matt Hobar vs. Pedro Munhoz
