UFC Sao Paulo: Jailton Almeida calls out Jon Jones ex-opponent in hopes of potential title shot in future after historic win over Derrick Lewis

Jailton Almeida, the victor in the recent UFC Sao Paulo main event, has his sights set on the UFC heavyweight title. With a win over Derrick Lewis, Almeida took the opportunity to call out a former interim heavyweight champion for his next fight.

With the interim heavyweight title on the line in the upcoming PPV event in the co-main event, Almeida is looking to earn a title shot in mid or late 2024. It remains to be seen whether the promotion backs him up with his dominant but boring performance against Lewis.

Jailton Almeida calls out Ciryl Gane

Jailton Almeida, the 9th ranked heavyweight, kept his undefeated streak in the UFC intact with his win over Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo. Almeida won by the scorecards that read 50-45, 50-44×2. However, the overwhelming sentiment after the bout was that Almeida should have finished Lewis.

With the victory over Lewis, Almeida is now 6-0 in the UFC and 20-2 overall, with his last defeat coming in 2018 in the middleweight division. Before the fight, Almeida was coming off three consecutive Performance of the Night bonus which ended against Lewis. Interestingly, Lewis saw the fifth round of an MMA bout for the first time in his career against Almeida.

In his post-fight speech with Michael Bisping, Almedia laid out his plan, which is to face Ciryl Gane next. “I want Ciryl Gane. We can fight in Paris. We can do it in Salvador. Wherever, I am ready. Let’s do it, Ciryl Gane.” Almeida said. The callout against the number one ranked heavyweight is far fetched considering the fact that he has not faced an opponnent in the top 5. Ciryl Gane most recently fought at UFC Paris earning a dominant TKO victor over Sergey Spivak in the main event.

Gane’s victory over Spivak was his rebound from the unforgettable first-round submission victory against Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285. In his post-fight speech at UFC Paris, Gane called for a title shot, brushing the callout of Tom Aspinall who won the main event at UFC London a couple of weeks prior. Incidentally, Apsinall would be facing Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title at the UFC 295 co-main event.

Jailton Almeida creates history at UFC Sao Paulo

UFC Sao Paulo recently concluded with Jailton Almeida defeating Derrick Lewis via unanimous decision. Almeida used his superior grappling to put Lewis on his back for almost four and half rounds and scored 10–8 rounds on two judges’ scorecard. However, the victory was marred by the notion that he was unable to get a finish.

Jailton Almeida was coming off victories in three consecutive Performance of the Night bouts against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and Anton Turkalj. Meanwhile, Lewis, in his recent bout, halted his three-fight slump against Marcos Rogerio de Lima in a 33-second TKO at UFC 291 Unfortunately for the fans in the audience, the fight did not go as expected.

Nevertheless, Almeida set a UFC record in the bout. Almeida had 21 minutes and 10 seconds of control time against Derrick Lewis in the fight. It is the new single-fight UFC heavyweight record. Overall, the control time would rank fourth. It was expected that Jailton Almeida would have control over Lewis. However, a quick finish on the ground was expected.

Almeida’s original opponent for the event, Curtis Blaydes, is the only other accomplished grappler in the UFC’s heavyweight division. However, in the bout between Blaydes and Derrick Lewis, “The Black Beast” knocked “Razor” with a timed uppercut on his takedown entry.

Do you think Jailton Almeida is a future champion in the heavyweight division of the UFC? Comment below!