Almeida wants to stay at heavyweight, says training was harder than Abdurakhimov fight

Jailton Almeida analyzes his win over Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC 283.

UFC prospect Jailton Almeida had an impressive showing in front of his home crowd at UFC 283. Paired up against Shamil Abdurakhimov, the Brazilian was able to outgrapple his opponent to score a ground and pound TKO victory in the second round of the match.

During the event’s press conference, Almeida told Ag Fight he was so prepared for the fight that he felt like the training camp that preceded it was actually more difficult. Now that he has scored a win againts a seasoned UFC heavyweight, ‘Malhadinho’ hopes to stay in the division and even enter the top 15.

“I’m really happy for being able to live all of this. This is my game. I’m showing the world you don’t have to leave Brazil to train wrestling. That’s the outcome of hard work, honestly and humility. I want to stay humble forever. I want to be the person I am never change. Abdurakhimov is really tough, like I’ve always said. My game is solid, though. I think the training was harder than the fight, but it was really exhausting. I was ready for three rounds, but I was able to get it done in the second with the gameplan I had. I noticed he was tired and decided to finish it just for good measure. I’m so happy. Who knows, I might enter the rankings? I want to stay at heavyweight.”

Currently on a four-fight winning streak in the Octagon, Almeida (18-2) scored wins over Anton Turkalj, Parker Porter and Danilo Marques prior to beating Abdurakhimov, all finishes. In fact, the 31-year-old already had nine straight wins before joining the UFC. Malhadinho’s last defeat took place in January 2018, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Bruno Assis.