Fabio Maldonado reacts to UFC Fight Night 56 call out from Ovince St. Preux: 'Challenge accepted'

Shortly after knocking out Mauricio Rua in the UFC Fight Night 56 main event (watch it), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight heart breaker Ovince St. Preux set his sights on another Brazilian striker, telling the mixed martial arts (MMA) media he's targeting a future fight against Fabio Maldonado.

Seems like "The Iron Hillbilly" is mighty popular these days.

"I've got tremendous respect for him," St. Preux said after Saturday night's (Nov. 8, 2014) shocker on FOX Sports 1 (via MMA Junkie). "He's a good fighter, and he was just one of the fighters on the list, so yeah." Hear his entire comments right here.

The win over Rua pushed "OSP" back into the win column after getting dumped and humped by Ryan Bader for 25 minutes last August. And it may have pushed "Shogun" into the middleweight division, or perhaps even retirement, depending on what UFC President Dana White has to say about this past weekend's event in Uberlandia, Brazil.

As for Maldonado?

While the call out caught him by surprise, he's not about to tuck tail and run, according to his reaction on Twitter:

I never ran from a challenge. I thought you'd ask for someone better ranked than me. Challenge accepted @003_OSP @ufc pic.twitter.com/VxSFUienAQ

— Fabio Maldonado (@MaldonadoMMA) November 9, 2014

St. Preux is currently ranked No. 10, Maldonado No. 14 (full list here).

Nothing is official at this time and St. Preux still has to get through the post-fight medical rigmarole, but it sounds like these two are ready to get after it.

The question is do you, the fight fan, want to see it?