Filed under: News , Only on Junkie , UFC , Videos (This story first appeared in Tuesday’s USA TODAY .) The UFC was set to determine its new heavyweight pecking order this month. Then former champion Junior dos Santos broke his hand, knocking him out of a fight against Stipe Miocic at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale on May 31 in Sao Paulo. That forced the promotion to scramble for a new main event, and scramble it did — to the point of bringing in a light heavyweight to save the day. Now Fabio Maldonado (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), a Brazilian who fights in the 205-pound division, will step up to fight Miocic (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the headliner. On one hand, it was as simple as the UFC needing a new main event of a card in Brazil and likely needing a Brazilian against Miocic in the main event
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Despite opponent switch, Stipe Miocic can separate self from UFC’s heavyweight pack – MMA Junkie