Maldonado calls out 6 fighters and only 1 accepted the challenge!

Fabio Maldonado just sent out a shotgun burst of challenges to the light heavyweight division! Maldonado’s stock rose at the end of his fight with “Rampage” as he not only proved he was tough enough to hang with legends, but “Rampage” said he earned his respect that night. Maldonado is looking to get back to his winning ways, though, and has challenged a LOT of people in the light heavyweight division.

“I would really like to fight in the Sao Paulo card, but if I fight in October in the United States, that works too,” Maldonado told Combate. “I wanted Anthony Johnson or Alexander Gustafsson, but that is kind of a longshot, right? They are all the way up there, so I could fight Ilir Latifi, Jimi Manuwa, Ovince Saint Preux or Tom Lawlor who just moved up and had a good win. There is a lot of good fighters in this weight class.”

Ilir Latifi has since answered the challenge on his Facebook, requesting a fight with Maldonado at the October 24th card in Dublin, Ireland:

“Fabio Maldonado, you are a great warrior and I heard that you can get ready in 6 weeks for a fight? I fought last year in Dublin and the crowd and atmosphere was fantastic. What about we put on a show for the Irish fans at UFC Dublin 24th of October?”

Latifi may not be in the upper echelon of fighters, but he truly impressed in his last octagon outing when he knocked Hans Stringer out less than a minute into the fight. Would Maldonado vs. Latifi be a bout that fight fans would want to see? Who would come out on top? Share your prediction in the comment section below!

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Translation executed by Lucas Rezende of BloodyElbow