En route to championship contention ahead of his first headlining outing with the promotion this weekend, surging Brazilian contender, Jailton Almeida claims he hopes current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones prolongs his career – long enough to setup a championship showdown between the two.
Almeida, who boasts an impressive 18-2 professional record, looks to take a big step toward title contention in the heavyweight ranks this weekend, taking main event honors for the first time during his brief Octagon tenure, as he headlines UFC Fight Night Charlotte.
The prolific finisher – a product of Dana White’s Contender Series, will take on Suriname-born kickboxing talent, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, with the aim to take the latter’s #9 rank in the heavyweight division.
4-0 since his transition to the UFC just last year, Almeida debuted with a win over compatriot, Danilo Marques, before recording back-to-back stoppages over both Parker Porter, and Anton Turkajl, and then stopping veteran perennial contender, Shamil Abdurakhimov with strikes back in January on home soil at UFC 283 in his native Brazil.
Jailton Almeida speaks of his game plan for a future Jon Jones title fight
And heaping great praise on current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones ahead of his return at UFC on ABC 4 this weekend, Almeida spoke of his hope to finally fight the Endicott veteran before his retirement.
“I hope he (Jon Jones) stays,” Jailton Almeida told MMA Fighting. “I hope he beats (Stipe) Miocic and said, ‘I’ll do one more fight. Put me in against anyone.’ it would be very satisfying if they [the UFC] put me there. It’s like completing the game. Fighting and beating the all-time best.”
“This fight would be very difficult for me,” Jailton Almeida explained. “Jon Jones is a complete fighter, everybody knows that. He’s very versatile in everything he does. I’d let things go and focus on his weak spots to catch him. Study the fight early on and try to do my thing to finish the fight.”