Jailton Almeida Makes First Appearance After UFC Exit
Former UFC heavyweight, Jailton Almeida is set to make his first appearance after leaving the UFC.
Jailton Almeida is set to return for the first time after being cut from the UFC. The Brazilian will travel to Russia and be the away fighter as he takes on Evgeny Goncharov at ACA 207. He will feature in a five-round main event.
Almeida's UFC exit confused a lot of people, as he had only lost two straight and, in a thin heavyweight division, he was certainly a threat.
Jailton Almeida Set for First Outing After UFC Exit
UFC Tenure
After signing a contract after a dominant performance on the Contender Series, Almeida debuted at light heavyweight in 2022.
His UFC tenure started with a bang, scoring a first-round TKO victory. In the 2:57 that he completed on his debut, his opponent didn't land a single significant strike.
It was the same story when he faced Park Porter, who wasn't able to land a significant strike on Almeida.
Bouncing around the weight classes, Almeida quickly rushed to 3-0 and tasted his first main event action. Meeting bigi boi Jairzinho Rozenstruik across five rounds, Almeida needed only 3:43 to win, taking zero damage and locking up a rear-naked choke.
Matched with the dangerous Derrick Lewis next, Almeida dominated. Over 25 full minutes, he was in a controlling position for 21:10, landing six takedowns but landing just 38 significant strikes.
Here's where the first hiccup came in Almeida's UFC career. Taking on Curtis Blaydes, he controlled the first round with ease, clocking 4:39 control time but landing just eight strikes. Blaydes landed a short uppercut whilst defending a takedown, knocking the Brazilian out.
Although he would bounce back with two straight victories, he would suffer a loss to Alexander Volkov in controversial fashion. Although he recorded over 10 minutes of control time, it would be the Russian who would come away with the victory. He was then unable to take Rizvan Kuniev down or out-strike him, leading to another loss.
ACA 207
Evgeny Goncharov will face Jailton Almeida at ACA 207 on Saturday. Goncharov is 22-3 and hasn't lost since 2020. He's currently on an eight-fight winning run and has recorded nine finishes.
With a combined age of 73, don't expect a high-action fight in the ACA 207 main event.
Elsewhere on the card, former UFC man, Hacran Dias features, as does the former Bellator lightweight chanpion, Brent Primus.
