The UFC plans to part ways with UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight Jailton Almeida.
Almeida suffered a decision loss to Rizvan Kuniev on Saturday in a lackluster effort from the Brazilian. Almeida landed just 31 significant strikes in the three-round defeat, after landing just nine in a loss to Alexander Volkov the fight prior.
So, after two lackluster performances, MMA journalist Laerte Viana reported on X that the UFC is set to part ways with Almeida.
“I just confirmed that the UFC made the decision this afternoon. Malhadinho leaves the organization after eight wins in 11 fights,” Viana wrote on X.
Almeida’s release is a bit of a surprise, as he was ranked eighth at heavyweight, but the promotion decided to move on after back-to-back losses.
Jailton Almeida planned to go back down to light heavyweight
After Jailton Almeida suffered a loss to Kuniev at UFC Vegas 113, he announced his plan to drop back down to light heavyweight.
Almeida’s managers, Tiago Okamura and Leonardo Pateira, confirmed to MMA Fighting that the Brazilian has already informed the UFC of his intent to return to 205 pounds next. However, Almeida won’t get a chance to go back down to light heavyweight as the promotion has parted ways.
Jailton Almeida last fought at light heavyweight in his UFC debut back in February 2022. There, he knocked out Danilo Marques in just under three minutes. And since then, he has fought at heavyweight or at catchweights.
Almeida is 22-5 as a pro and 8-3 in the UFC. Before the back-to-back losses, he TKO’d Serghei Spivac in the first round and submitted Alexandr Romanov in the first round. The Brazilian headlined two UFC events, beating Derrick Lewis by decision and submitting Jairzinho Rozenstruik. His other loss came by TKO to Curtis Blaydes, while he also had a notable win over Shamil Abdurakhimov.
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