Fabio Maldonado has stepped in for an injured Junior dos Santos and will fight Stipe Miocic in the main event of a May 31 UFC Fight Night in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Dos Santos (16-3) broke his hand in training and was forced to withdraw from the fight with Miocic. The UFC made the change official after an initial report from Brazilian outlet Combate.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch UFC Fight Night: Brown vs Silva live Saturday on Sportsnet 360 with prelims starting at 8 p.m. EST and the main card at 10 p.m. EST
The UFC elected to keep Miocic on the card and find a replacement for dos Santos rather than go with a new main event altogether. Miocic (11-1) is coming off back-to-back wins over veterans Roy Nelson and Gabriel Gonzaga. This is the second time Miocic will headline a UFC card; he did in September 2012 against Stefan Struve also.
Maldonado (21–6) will be moving up a weight class to face Miocic. The 34-year-old former pro boxer is riding a three-fight win streak in the light-heavyweight division. Maldonado recently won a unanimous decision over Gian Villante in March. Of his 27 pro MMA bouts, 23 have taken place in his native Brazil.
Despite the short notice, Maldonado vs Miocic will be contested as a five-round tilt because of its main event status.
Here is a look at the card to date:
MAIN CARD
– Stipe Miocic vs Fabio Maldonado
– TUF Brazil 3 middleweight final
– TUF Brazil 3 heavyweight final
– Demian Maia vs Alexander Yakovlev
– Rony Jason vs Robbie Peralta
PRELIMINARY CARD
– Diego Brandao vs Brian Ortega
– Elias Silverio vs Ernest Chavez
– Paulo Thiago vs Gasan Umalatov
– Kevin Souza vs Mark Eddiva
– Rodrigo Damm vs Rashid Magomedov
– Pedro Munhoz vs Matt Hobar
