Following his second loss in a row, the UFC heavyweight contender has decided to make an enormous change.
This past Saturday at UFC Vegas 113, heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida returned to the Octagon for a scrap against Rizvan Kuniev.
‘Malhadinho’ hoped to return to the win column after suffering a split decision loss against Alexander Volkov last trip.
But along with his profession potentially being on the road, the 34-year-old once more placed on a disappointing performance, happening to lose his fight via unanimous decision.
Almeida to make his move back right down to light heavyweight
Following what was one other lackluster performance, UFC boss Dana White was urged to chop Almeida by the vast majority of the fanbase.
Despite that, the Brazilian has taken his next move into his own hands, potentially before he’s given no selection by the promotion.
In response to reports from Laerte Viana, Almeida’s manager has confirmed that the 34-year-old might be moving back right down to light heavyweight for his next fight.
When ‘Malhadinho’ won a contract on Contender Series back in 2021, he competed at 205lbs, beating Nasrudin Nasrudinov.
He then proceeded by knocking out Danilo Marques in the primary round of his full UFC debut.
Shortly after, he moved up in weight to tackle Parker Porter, which kicked off the start of his tenure at heavyweight.
Nevertheless, regardless that Almeida is reportedly making his move back right down to 205lbs, his issue isn’t that he’s undersized, his issue is more to do along with his ability within the cage.
Who could Jailton Almeida fight next?
Almeida is currently ranked number six within the heavyweight division, and it’s unlikely that he moves right down to light heavyweight to fight outside the rankings.
Chinese contender Mingyang Zhang recently suffered his first UFC loss against Johnny Walker, and the ‘Mountain’ might be an ideal contender for him to maneuver back down and fight.