Fábio Maldonado (born 17 March 1980) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and boxer.

[9] Maldonado made his professional mixed martial arts debut in September 2000 and also began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu the same year.

[10] During the first eight years of his career, he competed exclusively in his native Brazil, and made his North American debut in November 2008.

[11] Maldonado lost to Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision on 4 June 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.

[18] However, Kruth abruptly retired from MMA and Maldonado was briefly linked to a bout with Cyrille Diabate on 17 November 2012 at UFC 154.

[19] However, Maldonado stepped up and faced Glover Teixeira on 13 October 2012 at UFC 153, replacing an injured Quinton Jackson.

[20] Maldonado absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment on the ground, which was so brutal it earned "Beatdown of the Year" honors from Sherdog.com.

Maldonado ultimately lost the fight at the end of the second round, when the doctor deemed him unable to continue.

Maldonado faced Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight bout on 31 May 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale, replacing Junior dos Santos.

[28] Maldonado was expected to face returning veteran Quinton Jackson on 25 April 2015 at UFC 186.

[29] However, on 7 April Jackson was removed from the card after his most recent employer, Bellator MMA, was granted an injunction by a New Jersey Superior Court judge preventing him from competing for the UFC after it was alleged that he breached a deal signed in June 2013.

[30] On 21 April a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey's Appellate Division overturned the injunction against Jackson, allowing him to compete for the UFC.

He won the fight via submission in the third round to win the vacant FNG Light Heavyweight championship.

Maldonado was next expected to face Malik Merad at Arena FC 2 on 12 December 2020, but the whole event was postponed due to multiple COVID-19 cases.