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Jailton Almeida went 8-3 during his UFC tenure. | Getty/UFC
Not even the promise of a change in weight classes was enough to save Jailton Almeida.
According to an initial report from Laerte Viana, the UFC has released the 34-year-old Brazlian on the heels of back-to-back losses to Alexander Vokov and Rizvan Kuniev. Meanwhile, MMAjunkie.com has confirmed that the promotion already has informed Almeida of its decision.
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The news comes a couple days after the announcement that Almeida was planning to return to the light heavyweight division, where he began his UFC career.
“Maladinho” earned a UFC contract by winning a light heavyweight fight on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2021. He was successful in his Octagon debut at 205 pounds, finishing Danilo Marques in the opening stanza at UFC Fight Night 200 in February 2022. After one 220-pound catchweight victory, the Brazilian moved to the heavyweight division, where he has compiled a 5-3 record since 2023.
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While Almedia secured noteworthy wins against the likes of Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Derrick Lewis and Serghei Spivac, his last two performances were largely lackluster. In his most recent loss against Kuniev at UFC Fight Night 266, Almeida failed on all eight takedown attempts and appeared reluctant to engage in striking exchanges for any significant period of time.
In the prior fight against Volkov at UFC 321, Almeida landed seven takedowns and racked up more than 10 minutes of control time but landed just nine significant strikes in a split-decision defeat. After the bout, UFC CEO Dana White stated that he was pleased that Almeida was not awarded the decision.
“You can’t win a fight by just laying on top of somebody,” White said at the UFC 321 post-fight press conference. “That’s not how it works. I was actually very happy with the way judges scored that fight.”
Almeida accepted the Kuniev fight on short notice, revealing that it was supposedly part of a new contract with the UFC.
“Actually, I always stay active,” Almeida told Ag.Fight ahead of UFC Vegas 113. “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.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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