Jailton Almeida will remain in the heavyweight division for the time being.
Rising UFC prospect Jailton Almeida will stay in the heavyweight divison, but will not be fighting Andrei Arlovski like he requested. On the fighter’s official Instagram page, the Brazilian’s manager announced that ‘Malhadinho’ renewed his contract with the UFC and will be taking on a ranked opponent in his next outing: Shamil Abdurakhimov.
“Only a few are able to renew their UFC contracts only two fights in, but Malhadinho did. Thank god. The credit goes entirely to him, for his performances in the Octagon and for his whole team on the outside,” Manager Leonardo Pateira wrote, while announcing Jailton’s next fight.
Currently on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC, Almeida (16-2) defeated both Parker Porter and Danilo Marques in the Octagon, with both wins happening within the first round. In fact, the 30-year-old’s last loss dates back to January 2018, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Bruno Assis.
In an opposite situation, Abdurakhimov (20-7) will try to avoid losing his fourth bout in a row after he suffered knockout losses to Curtis Blaydes, Chris Daukaus and Sergei Pavlovich. The 40-year-old’s most recent win took place in April 2019, when he knocked out Marcin Tybura.
Now, Almeida is expected to take on Abdurakhimov at UFC Fight Night 214, on September 10. So far, an official main event for the card is yet to be announced by the promotion.