A heavyweight showdown between contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Jailton Almeida has been booked for a May 13th UFC Fight Night. MMA Fighting was the first to report the news of the Rozenstruik/Almeida matchup. Rozenstruik, a mainstay in the UFCR…
A heavyweight showdown between contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Jailton Almeida has been booked for a May 13th UFC Fight Night. MMA Fighting was the first to report the news of the Rozenstruik/Almeida matchup. Rozenstruik, a mainstay in the UFC’s heavyweight division, will look to continue his winning ways after a knockout of Chris Daukaus at…
Likely earning the #15 rank in the official heavyweight pile, surging Brazilian prospect, Jailton Almeida moves to 18-2 as a professional and lands the biggest victory of his Octagon tenure to date, stopping Shamil Abdurakhimov with a slew of second round ground strikes on the preliminary card of UFC 283. Almeida, 31, another product of […]
Likely earning the #15 rank in the official heavyweight pile, surging Brazilian prospect, Jailton Almeida moves to 18-2 as a professional and lands the biggest victory of his Octagon tenure to date, stopping Shamil Abdurakhimov with a slew of second round ground strikes on the preliminary card of UFC 283.
Almeida, 31, another product of Dana White‘s Contender Series, Almeida has now landed four Octagon victories since his appearance at the UFC Apex facility last February.
In just 11 months since, Almeida has finished the quartet of Danilo Marques, Parker Porter, Anton Turkalj, and tonight, Abdurakhimov in his native Brazil.
Demonstrating his grappling and wrestling ability, Almeida, a native of Bahia, managed to ground out the aforenoted, Abdurakhimov with a series of ground strikes in the second frame of their preliminary card, solidifying his status as one of the most promising challengers to emerge from Brazil in the last year.
Below, catch the highlights from Jailton Almeida’s finish over Shamil Abdurakhimov
UFC heavyweight contender Serghei Spivac doesn’t seem interested in pushing for a specific name following his win this past weekend. Spivac headlined a low-key card at the Apex on Saturday night, getting his chance for redemption opposite fellow European Marcin Tybura. The Polish fighter defeated his Moldovan peer on the scorecards back in 2020. But […]
UFC heavyweight contender Serghei Spivac doesn’t seem interested in pushing for a specific name following his win this past weekend.
Spivac headlined a low-key card at the Apex on Saturday night, getting his chance for redemption opposite fellow European Marcin Tybura. The Polish fighter defeated his Moldovan peer on the scorecards back in 2020.
The performance, which saw Spivac earn a performance bonus, was followed by a relaxed interview from the 29-year-old heavyweight, during which he dismissed a push from Michael Bisping to call out a name.
Instead, Spivac simply said he’d be content sharing the cage with anybody above him in the heavyweight pecking order. And while he didn’t make the matchmaker’s life any easier, one contender did by throwing his name into the hat…
Almeida Calls Out Spivac, Gets Direct Response
During his post-fight press conference on Saturday night, Spivac reflected on his victory in the latest UFC Fight Night main event and assessed what could lie in his future.
“Polar Bear” reiterated his decision to avoid specific callouts, explaining that it’s difficult to pinpoint a name in an ever-changing weight class.
“When people ask me what’s next, it’s very hard for me to say because a lot of things can change in the heavyweight division really quickly,” Spivac said. “So it’s good for me when the UFC says who is next as opposed to me having to choose. I understand that tournaments happen every single Saturday, every single week, so I’ll wait and we’ll see what’s next.”
Spivac did have his attention turned to a callout that he was the recipient of, however.
Almeida is coming off the first defeat of his UFC career, having had his push for a title shot stalled by Curtis Blaydes by way of a violent TKO at UFC 299 this past March.
Spivac, meanwhile, has won four of his last five. The sole loss in that run was a knockout setback at the hands of Ciryl Gane in Paris last September.
UFC 304 co-headliner Curtis Blaydes’ latest triumph inside the Octagon came in memorable fashion four months ago. The #4-ranked heavyweight contender is set to feature in the co-main event of this weekend’s pay-per-view at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England, where he’ll challenge for the division’s interim title against Tom Aspinall. To earn that opportunity, which […]
To earn that opportunity, which marks his first shot at UFC gold, “Razor” stalled the charge of the highly touted Jailton Almeida in violent fashion at UFC 299 in Miami this past April.
Off the back of a grappling-heavy decision win over Derrick Lewis in Brazil last November, “Malhadinho” picked up where he left off by attempting early takedowns on Blaydes. But after a round of control, Almeida’s grappling entry seconds into the second round was met with hammerfist after hammerfist from the American for the TKO stoppage.
Ahead of Saturday’s event, the promotion has released the full Blaydes vs. Almeida fight from UFC 299 on its official YouTube channel.
Blaydes will hope to deliver a similarly emphatic finish at the expense of Aspinall this weekend.
Should he accomplish that feat, “Razor” will not only head back to the United States with gold in his possession for the very first time, but he will also add a more definitive victory over the Brit to his record following the unfortunate ending to their 2022 bout.
2022 has been nothing short of an entertaining year in the UFC. Titles from various divisions changed hands, rivalries were settled, new rivalries were born, and many new fighters rose to stardom. Over the course of the year, we saw veterans of the game leave their gloves in the center of the octagon such as […]
2022 has been nothing short of an entertaining year in the UFC. Titles from various divisions changed hands, rivalries were settled, new rivalries were born, and many new fighters rose to stardom.
Over the course of the year, we saw veterans of the game leave their gloves in the center of the octagon such as Luke Rockhold, Frankie Edgar, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and many others. As this past generation of fighters have left MMA, new faces have arrived, ready to take the game by storm.
This year was an incredible year for newcomers to the UFC promotion, but one rookie was far and above the LowKick MMA UFC Newcomer of the Year.
UFC Newcomer of the Year: Jack Della Maddalena (8 votes)
Della-Maddalena began his year at UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane in January. The young Aussie took on Pete Rodriguez and wasted no time obtaining the quick round 1 finish via knockout.
Coming off this scintillating finish, Della-Maddalena returned to the UFC octagon next in June at UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka. What many thought would be a more demanding opponent, Ramazan Emeev joined Jack in the octagon and once again, Jack secured a Round 1 finish. This time, Della-Maddalena won via TKO due to a devastating liver strike.
2022 was nothing short of spectacular for the Perth, Australia native and three 1st round knockouts clearly show why. Prolific striker Jack Della-Maddalena is certainly a fighter to look out for in 2023 as he looks to continue his momentum.
Muhammad Mokaev (4 votes)
LowKick MMA’s runner-up for this award is none other than the young Flyweight contender, Muhammad “The Punisher” Mokaev. The young England native began his career at just 21 years old when he stepped into the UFC Octagon against Cody Durden this March.
Mokaev was unable to get a finish in this fight but earned a dominant Unanimous Decision victory in front of his home fans. By this point, Mokaev promised to become the youngest UFC Champion in history and still has another two years to do so.
Mokaev looks to make good on his promise of becoming champion, and the path he is on means that 2023 will be a pivotal year for the young fighter.
Honarable Mention
Jailton Almeida
Just barely not making the cut, another fighter deserving of recognition is heavyweight/light heavyweight newcomer Jailton Almeida. While Almeida only had two fights in 2022, the quality certainly outweighed the quantity.
We first saw Almeida in the UFC octagon in May for UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira when he took on Parker Porter. In this fight, Almeida wasted no time whatsoever and earned a submission victory via Rear Naked Choke only 25 seconds into the fight.
Subsequently, Almeida was matched up with Anton Turkalj during UFC 279: Diaz vs. Ferguson. In almost identical fashion to his first UFC fight, Almeida once again secured a RNC submission, this time just 32 seconds into the fight.
Jailton Almeida brings a breath of fresh air to the Heavyweight division, and it will be interesting to see what the submission artist can accomplish in 2023. Look for Almeida to continue his quick finishing ways when he takes on Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill in his home country of Brazil.
Rising UFC prospect Jailton Almeida will make the quick turnaround to fight Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 280 on Oct. 22. News of the Almeida/Abdurakhimov booking was first reported by AgFight. Almeida fought at UFC 279 just weeks ago against Anton Turkal…
Rising UFC prospect Jailton Almeida will make the quick turnaround to fight Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 280 on Oct. 22. News of the Almeida/Abdurakhimov booking was first reported by AgFight. Almeida fought at UFC 279 just weeks ago against Anton Turkalj, earning a first-round submission and post-fight ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. The light-heavyweight/heavyweight hybrid…