Outside Source
After suffering his second defeat in the promotion to Alexander Volkov at UFC 321, the 10-fight UFC vet Jailton Almeida returns to the Octagon on Saturday. He battles another Russian in the hulking Rizvan Kuniev, with the two coming to blows at UFC Vegas 113, also known as UFC Fight Night 266, in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Ag. Fight on Wednesday, the Brazilian revealed why he accepted the short-notice matchup with the unranked Kuniev.
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“Actually, I always stay active,” Almeida explained. “Even when I don’t have a fight, I’m helping my teammates. When the UFC offered the fight three weeks ago, with the option to renew the contract, I talked to my manager and we decided to accept this first fight of the new contract.”
While a wrestler in Curtis Blaydes and a striker in Volkov have gotten the better of him in the cage thus far, Almeida sees a far different stylistic clash with two-time Dana White’s Contender Series competitor.
“Kuniev is a very dangerous guy, that’s why nobody agreed to fight him,” “Malhadinho” expressed. “Everyone thought he had won the fight with Curtis Blaydes, but I’m going there to play my game, come out with the victory and get back on the path to the belt again.”
Jailton also spoke about the lessons learned from his close decision loss to Volkov.
“There is no defeat. There is learning. I controlled the fight from the top, but I lacked aggressiveness, obviously. I was trained for that, but I wasn’t confident enough to execute it. I think that was the only detail,” the Brazilian analyzed.
A Real Man Can’t Have Two Faces
Almeida, 34, is the highest-ranked Brazilian in the heavyweight division. He began his career in the sport in 2012 and debuted in the UFC in 2022. Throughout his career, the Bahia, Brazil, native has built a record of 22 wins, 21 by stoppage, and he has suffered four losses. Almeida can hang his hat on victories over names like Derrick Lewis, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Serghei Spivac.
In a broadcast earlier this week, the heavyweight spoke to journalist Laerte Viana about his hurt feelings regarding criticism from UFC commentator and former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. He learned of Cormier’s negative words during in a conversation with Tom Aspinall backstage at UFC Abu Dhabi during his fight week with Volkov.
“Cormier is an exceptional guy,” Almeida made sure to say first. “I always joked with him, but I think [what he said about me is] unprofessional of him. Because the guy was whispering about another athlete. Even though he’s a UFC employee, he has no right to do that. I think it was disrespectful to me. I always treated him like an icon, an idol of the sport. And then he goes and says something like that? You end up disappointed.”
The frustrated Brazilian continued, “Then, he made a post apologizing, but we’re not in anyone’s heart. I’ll let this situation pass. I’m a man and I speak my mind. I don’t say anything behind anyone’s back. If it’s to say something good, I say it. If it’s to say something bad, I say it to anyone’s face. My father taught me that. I will always be a man, regardless of anything. If the time comes and he talks to me, I’ll talk to him. If he doesn’t talk to me, f*** him. But I think that’s something a guy who isn’t a man would do. To whisper in someone’s ear about someone who always respected him, always treated him very well? I always treated him like a sports icon for him to talk badly about me like that. It’s messed up. A real man can’t have two faces. He has to be a man, regardless of anything.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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