Fabio Maldonado’s request to fight Dan Henderson was turned down, but the 34-year-old Brazilian spoke to Portal do Vale-Tudo and said that he has other options in mind. Those would be two men current in the top 15 at light heavyweight – Ovince St. Preux and Rafael Cavalcante. OSP is the first guy he brought up:
I asked to fight Dan Henderson with all respect because he is the man, it would be a dream for me. I think his style would be good for me. But there are a lot of people wanting to fight me. There is Ovince St. Preux who challenged me on twitter. I would fight you anytime, Ovince. It would be a tough fight, maybe as tough as against Dan Henderson.
The interview was given before the announcement of Hendo possibly facing Daniel Cormier at UFC 175 on July 5th. Maldonado is open also to meeting Cavalcante, a guy he disn’t get along with after his unfriendly departure from Team Nogueira. Fabio says has no hard feelings, but he’d still meet him in the octagon:
With Feijao I have a long history but I would fight him. But I would fight as my job. The situation has passed. He has his team, I have my team and I have to move on.
Maldonado is now on a three-fight winning streak, the last one coming against Gian Villante by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2 on March 23rd.