UFC Vegas 55 Fighter to Watch: Jailton Almeida
DWCS grad jumps up to heavyweight for his sophomore appearance, taking on streaking New Englander Parker Porter
Name: Jailton Almeida
Nickname: Malhadinho
Record: 15-2 overall, 1-0 UFC
Division: Light heavyweight
Team: Galpao da Luta / Leonidas Gondim System
Opponent: Parker Porter (13-6 overall, 3-1 UFC)
So this one requires some clarification right off the hop because I know what you’re thinking — or might be thinking: didn’t you say in the subtitle that this is at heavyweight?
Yes, this fight on Saturday is at heavyweight, but generally speaking, Almeida is a light heavyweight, and a promising one at that. He was originally scheduled to compete this weekend against Russian veteran Maxim Grishin, but when he was forced to withdraw, Almeida wanted to stay on the card, and so a fight with Porter up in the big boy division came together, and I’m freakishly intrigued by this pairing.
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Almeida was one of the many members of the DWCS Class of ‘22 that I wasn’t sure about right out of the chute: I’d watched his dominant win over Nasurdin Nasurdinov on the show, thought he looked solid, but didn’t want to be too hyped about that effort because Nasurdinov had beaten some marginal talents and a couple decent fighters on his way to being 9-0 and we’ve seen plenty of emerging talents that look dynamite on DWCS and then stumble out of the gates in the UFC, especially in recent years.
In early February, Almeida worked Danilo Marques, making me an instant believer in his upside. From that night’s recap:
The DWCS grad absolutely mauled fellow Brazilian Danilo Marques to collect a first-round stoppage win in his promotional debut, pushing his winning streak to 10 in the process. Mere moments into the fight, Almeida put Marques on the deck and he never let him back up, patiently biding his time before working to mount and raining down hammerfists to secure the finish.
There was a ton of hype behind Almeida coming out of his Contender Series victory, and while I have been taking a “let me see them again” approach with most of the members of the Class of ‘21, including Almeida, I’m sold on his upside now — not because he beat Marques, but because of how he did it. This was one-way traffic from start to finish and the 30-year-old newcomer looks like the goods.
Sometimes it only takes on performance to know someone has a chance to climb the divisional ladder, and that was the case for me with Almeida. As I said that evening in early February, it wasn’t that he beat Marques, who is limited, it’s how he beat Marques, putting him on the deck instantly and never letting him up, knowing to just unload from mount rather than try to pick his shots or hunt for a submission that wasn’t there. He didn’t even land too cleanly, but it was clear that Marques wasn’t getting up and that Almeida wasn’t going to let off, which prompted referee Mike Beltran to rightly step in and stop the fight.
That effort was enough to convince me that Almeida has the chance to string together some wins and work his way into the Top 15 in the light heavyweight division in the not too distant future, as things in the 205-pound weight class are usually fairly wide open and it only takes two or three good efforts to land a number next to your name.
I mean, Jimmy Crute is currently sidelined with a major knee injury, has been stopped in the first in each of his last two outings, and his most impactful win came in his promotional debut in December 2018 when he beat Paul Craig, but he’s still stationed at No. 14 in the rankings. A couple more strong efforts and Almeida is facing a ranked opponent, and from there, all it takes is one win to get a number for yourself.
I’d be surprised if that hasn’t happened by this time next year, if not much sooner.
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Saturday’s fight is one of those instances where things could go awry in a hurry, and that’s honestly part of what intrigues me about Almeida’s decision to move up and face Porter.
As much as folks won’t want to give the 37-year-old Porter any kind of credit, he’s 3-1 in the UFC, posting each of those victories after losing his promotional debut to Chris Daukaus, who, while not a Top 5 talent, has proven himself to be a legitimate Top 10, Top 15 guy. They’ve all been “outlast my opponent” decisions where Porter has been the one with a little more left in the tank down the stretch, but he’s gotten the job done, and while Almeida will be the taller man on Saturday, Porter should be the considerably larger man in the Octagon, as he weighs in at every bit of the 265-pound heavyweight limit.
While a victory on Saturday won’t necessarily do anything for Almeida’s position in the light heavyweight division, it’s a chance to improve his stock nonetheless, especially if he goes out there and dusts Porter in impressive fashion.
This is basically the Direct-to-DVD version of Amanda Ribas climbing to flyweight and facing Katlyn Chookagian last weekend — it’s a chance for Almeida to earn points by picking up another win in a different weight class, while bolstering his overall standing simply by accepting the challenge, except he’s facing an unranked fighter, while Ribas battled the silver medalist for 15 minutes.
I know there will be people that instantly dismiss an Almeida win on Saturday because “yeah, but who is Parker Porter and who has he beaten?” but I mean, he beat the last three dudes that stood across from him and that’s kind of all you can ask of him, no?
I’m not saying this would be a monumental win for Almeida should he a victory this weekend, but it’s still an impressive accomplishment given that he’ll likely be giving up between 20 and 40 pounds and facing a guy on a three-fight winning streak. Those things matter, they carry value, and provide information, and I’m all about collecting as much information as possible.
“Malhadinho” looks the part of a promising new addition to the light heavyweight ranks, and I believe his heavyweight side-quest on Saturday will further illustrate that point.