Jailton Almeida repeatedly took Derrick Lewis down and controlled him for the majority of their main event bout to win a unanimous decision at UFC Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Almeida, ranked No. 9 in the heavyweight division, is now 6-0 in the UFC and figures to be a problem for any fighter he faces, but his performance Saturday left a lot to be desired. He was able to get full mount on Lewis in every round, but failed to get the finish against the UFC’s knockout king.
Before his five-round battle against Lewis, Almeida told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole he was already thinking about his future.
“I aspire to be the backup for UFC 295,” Almeida said earlier this week. Heavyweights Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich will fight for the interim title in the co-main event of that card after champion Jon Jones was injured and forced to cancel his fight against ex-champion Stipe Miocic.
After going the full five rounds Saturday, it’s highly doubtful Almeida will be available as a replacement fighter for next week’s co-main event.
Here’s how the entire card unfolded:
UFC Sao Paulo: Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis main card full results
• Heavyweight: Jailton Almeida def. Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45)
• Welterweight: Gabriel Bonfim def. Nicolas Dalby by TKO (punches) at 4:23 of R2:
• Heavyweight: Rodrigo Nascimento def. Don’tale Mayes by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Middleweight: Caio Borralho def. Abus Magomedov by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lightweight: Elves Brener def. Kaynan Kruschewsky by KO (punch) at 4:01 of R1:
• Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira (-105) vs. Armen Petrosyan (-115)
UFC Sao Paulo: Jailton Almeida vs. Derrick Lewis prelims card results, highlights
• Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov ends in majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
• Light heavyweight: Vitor Petrino def. Modestas Bukauskas by KO (punch) at 1:03 of R2:
• Women’s strawweight: Angela Hill def. Denise Gomes by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Women’s strawweight: Eduarda Moura def. Montserrat Conejo Ruiz by TKO (strikes) at 2:14 of R2:
• Lightweight: Marc Diakiese def. Kaue Fernandes by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
