Fabio Maldonado will be the Brazilian representative in the TUF 13 Finale, which takes place this Saturday, in Las Vegas. After a successful debut in the UFC 120 against James McSweeney, the Brazilian will seek his 12th consecutive victory in MMA, against the American Kyle Kingsbury. For Maldonado, the formula is the same of always: trust in his boxing to get the knockout.
"He’s not bad standing, but I don’t think he’ll want to strike with me", predicts Maldonado, analyzing the strengths of the opponent, "I’m better standing, but he has a better wrestling. We are similar in the ground, but I think I have superiority. The biggest danger is I think he’ll do something and he get me by surprise".
In his last appearance in the octagon, Fabio Maldonado knocked out James McSweeney in the second round, putting his boxing legacy in practice. Despite being a brown belt in BJJ, his fists are always the first choice of the former boxer, that said to be "proud" of his striking and did not hide his preference of fighting.
"I’ll always prefer to strike standing", he said, "I believe I’m doing everything alright, working on my faults. I improved my takedown defense and I believe I can knock out my opponents".
Kyle Kingsbury, Maldonado’s opponent, comes from a sequence of three wins. The last was a technical knockout over Ricardo Romero, in UFC 126.