F. Maldonado (left) in the victory over H. Stringer (right) in Rio. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
For a professional fighter, living with injuries and even performing without being 100% physically is somewhat common. However, light heavyweight Fábio Maldonado set a true example of overcoming by not giving up his fight against Hans Stringer at UFC Rio 5, held on October 25th, despite having suffered a very serious injury. In an interview, Maldonado revealed that he tore the meniscus in his left knee during his preparation for the duel and that, despite the pain and physical limitations, he chose to remain on the card.
“My situation was horrible. I had given up fighting, I ate the wrong way for three days, I had injections in the hospital to heal the injury and I weighed 112 kg 34 days before the fight. But then I talked to the Patricio pitbull and he encouraged me to try. When there were 26 days left before the fight, I was already weighing 104 kg again and my knee was better. I still didn't want to fight and Patricio was telling me to try a little more. One day I felt firm and trained well, then I trained poorly for two days and thought I was incapable. Some friends of mine who picked me up at the airport said: 'Wow, man, you came dragging. How are you going to fight?'. But the human head is everything. I thought, 'Let's do it. I have three children to raise. Let's work'. I was pushing with my belly”, said the “Caipira de Aço” on the “Combate” channel website.
After the difficulty and with another victory for his record, which now has 22 victories and seven defeats, Maldonado already has in mind his objective for the sequence: facing the veteran Dan Henderson, or at least some higher ranked opponent. “A lot of people are asking me to fight against Dan Henderson. I would be happy, but I don't have to choose. I just want to fight someone who is above me in the rankings. Hans Stringer was beneath me. I want to fight a guy a little better than me in the rankings. That's what matters so I can climb higher. We have to move forward”, he concluded.
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