UFC heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida will return to action this month, but it won’t be inside the Octagon. Two…
UFC heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida will return to action this month, but it won’t be inside the Octagon.
Two months removed from his impressive five-round shellacking of Derrick Lewis at UFC Sao Paulo, ‘Malhadinho’ will compete under the Demo Fight banner in Brazil. Revealed on the promotion’s official Instagram, Almeida will face Alvaro Borges, a fighter with Down Syndrome, as part of an exhibition bout.
“We know that sport is one of the biggest weapons of social inclusion we have.
“Thinking about it, we decided to present an exhibition fight with the 2023 MMA revelation athlete Jailton Malhadinho ( UFC ) and athlete Alvaro Borges with Down Syndrome.
“We are sure going to be a great show!“
Jailton Almeida has an exhibition fight booked against a fighter with Down syndrome on January 27 pic.twitter.com/gREmRdQ5ra
Dating back to 2006, Demo Fight has put on 17 different events over the years, all emanating from Almeida’s home country. The promotion’s latest offering, Demo Fight 18, will feature a slew of homegrown talent in addition to the announced exhibition bout featuring the streaking heavyweight standout.
Jailton Almeida Continues to climb the UFC heavyweight rankings
Since appearing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, Jailton Almeida has established himself as a potential UFC title challenger, winning six straight fights against the likes of Shamil Abdurakhimov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and the aforementioned Derrick Lewis.
Originally, Almeida was expected to square off with Curtis Blaydes in November, but an injury forced ‘Razor’ out of the matchup. The bout has since been rescheduled for UFC 299 on March 9.
Currently sitting as the No. 7 ranked heavyweight, a win over Blaydes would likely push him into the division’s top five and put him within reach of his first shot at UFC gold.
Last night’s edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter featured a segment titled “Garrett’s Fight,” about a 23-year-old man with Down syndrome named Garrett Holeve who has transformed his life through MMA. After being introduced to the sport by his father, Holeve committed himself to training at American Top Team, which has become a supportive second-family to him. The segment follows “G-Money” as he prepares for his first amateur fight against “Monster” Mike Wilson, who makes good on his promise to show Holeve what a real punch feels like. Through three tough rounds, Garrett doesn’t quit, and comes out the other side an even stronger person.
For me, the most touching part of the segment is the end, which shows Garrett now working as an instructor at an ATT affiliate that his father purchased, teaching MMA to children and another man with Down syndrome. “Them look up to me as a hero, or as a super man,” Garrett says. “Because them need a super hero.” (Damn…is somebody chopping onions in here?)
But look, we’re not talking about a kid with Down syndrome getting passed a basketball to take a shot during a middle-school game. MMA is a sport where people can get badly injured, and Garrett’s story is inherently controversial. As Garrett’s father puts it, “I’ve had family members that just said to me that I’m crazy. They’ve lost respect for me as a parent from the fact that I’m allowing this to happen.” Meanwhile, Zach Arnold at Fight Opinion sees this as just the latest in a long line of questionable decisions by Florida’s athletic commission As Arnold writes:
Last night’s edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter featured a segment titled “Garrett’s Fight,” about a 23-year-old man with Down syndrome named Garrett Holeve who has transformed his life through MMA. After being introduced to the sport by his father, Holeve committed himself to training at American Top Team, which has become a supportive second-family to him. The segment follows “G-Money” as he prepares for his first amateur fight against “Monster” Mike Wilson, who makes good on his promise to show Holeve what a real punch feels like. Through three tough rounds, Garrett doesn’t quit, and comes out the other side an even stronger person.
For me, the most touching part of the segment is the end, which shows Garrett now working as an instructor at an ATT affiliate that his father purchased, teaching MMA to children and another man with Down syndrome. “Them look up to me as a hero, or as a super man,” Garrett says. “Because them need a super hero.” (Damn…is somebody chopping onions in here?)
But look, we’re not talking about a kid with Down syndrome getting passed a basketball to take a shot during a middle-school game. MMA is a sport where people can get badly injured, and Garrett’s story is inherently controversial. As Garrett’s father puts it, “I’ve had family members that just said to me that I’m crazy. They’ve lost respect for me as a parent from the fact that I’m allowing this to happen.” Meanwhile, Zach Arnold at Fight Opinion sees this as just the latest in a long line of questionable decisions by Florida’s athletic commission As Arnold writes:
After the Sunday night feature, I made several phone calls to doctors, athletic inspectors, judges, and individuals with medical knowledge who are involved in regulating combat sports. The reaction from the people I contacted was unanimous and swift — they were absolutely terrified. Not one person supported the idea of allowing someone with Down’s Syndrome inside the ring for amateur or pro MMA. One respected athletic inspector said that allowing Garrett Holeve to fight in an MMA bout was exploitative, no matter if the audience cheered and gave Holeve a standing ovation after the fight. The concept of allowing someone with Down’s Syndrome (limited cognitive ability & brain issues) to take punches and get slammed drew a swiftly negative reaction amongst the people I interviewed…
Would ESPN have showed the ending to Garrett Holeve’s fight if he got knocked out? If Holeve had gotten injured during the fight they aired, would they have spiked the feature because it wasn’t a heartwarming ending?
One thing that separates MMA from other professional sports is that there’s very little barrier to entry. You don’t have to possess an elite-level of talent to try your hand at it; all you need to do is find a local promotion that needs warm bodies. And in the wake of that other controversy in Florida, it’s worth thinking about who should be “allowed” to participate. Everybody? Only the athletes we deem to be physically, mentally, and developmentally healthy? Should a person with limited cognitive ability — and slower reaction times, in Garrett’s case — be barred from competing in a combat sport like MMA? Or is inclusiveness one of the factors that makes this sport so unique, and so often inspirational?
