Fabio Maldonado thanks Corey Anderson, proposes post-UFC Fight Night 77 beer(s)

Fabio Maldonado

As you may have noticed, UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado likes to fight.

The thought of going without one, then, is not something the Brazilian brawler likes to entertain – particularly when he’s already put pen to paper.

That’s why Maldonado, via manager Alex Davis, wants to thank “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner Corey Anderson (6-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) for stepping in on short notice to fight him at UFC Fight Night 77, which takes place Nov. 7 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. The bout opens the FOX Sports 1-televised main card following prelims on the same channel and UFC Fight Pass.

Maldonado (22-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) was set to face “The Ultimate Fighter 8” veteran Tom Lawlor (10-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC). However, Lawlor withdrew due to a concussion suffered in training (and reported concussion-like symptoms), forcing a scramble for a replacement.

“Had he not accepted, I would most probably ended up without a fight,” Maldonado said in a prepared statement sent to MMAjunkie. “I would like to express my respect for Corey and his camp. And I would like to propose Corey that we give the fans the ‘Fight of the Night’ and afterward celebrate together over a lot of beer.”

Maldonado hasn’t fought since April’s UFC 186 event, when he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Quinton Jackson in another bout that teetered on the edge of cancellation. When Jackson was temporarily enjoined from competing on the card due to a court battle with Bellator, Maldonado was briefly booked to fight Steve Bosse before a judge allowed “Rampage” to compete.

So it’s not the first time Maldonado has been thankful to an opponent. Now, he looks to rebound from a 1-2 stretch that followed a three-fight winning streak. Overall, he’s 5-5 inside the UFC’s octagon.

Anderson comes into the bout on the heels of a decision win over Jan Blachowicz at this past month’s UFC 191 event, which put him back on track after a TKO loss to Gian Villante at UFC on FOX 15 that marked his first UFC setback.

As thankful as Maldonado is, he’ll try to issue Anderson his second octagon loss.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 77, check out the UFC Events section of the site.