Jailton Almeida extended his win streak to five with a first-round submission victory at UFC Charlotte on Saturday.
‘Malhadinho’ made easy work of No. 9 ranked heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the afternoon’s main event showcase. ‘Bigi Boi’ attempted to bring some early pressure in order to get Almeida backpedaling as a way to combat an inevitable takedown attempt from the Brazilian standout. Unfortunately for Rozenstruik, his efforts were ineffective as Almeida was able to wrestle the big man down and dominate, as expected.
Securing a rear-naked choke submission in the opening round, Jailton Almeida should find himself ranked in the division’s top ten come Monday morning. He’ll also find his bank account a lot fatter as his finish scored him a $50,000 performance bonus courtesy of UFC President Dana White.
Almeida is now 5-0 inside the Octagon and 19-2 overall. All of his wins under the UFC banner have come by way of finish, including his 2021 appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series against Nasrudin Nasrudinov. Soon-to-be sitting firmly in the division’s top ten, Almeida is ready to make a big leap up the ladder, calling out fan-favorite Tai Tuivasa for a heavyweight clash during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
His opponent, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, will go back to the drawing board after dropping four of his last six contests, though those defeats have come against a who’s who of heavyweight elites including Ciryl Gane, Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov, and of course, Jailton Almeida.
Following Almeida’s highlight-reel-worthy finish, MMA fans and fighters flooded Twitter with praise for the budding Brazilian superstar.