Jailton Almeida sees opportunity in crowded heavyweight division

CHARLOTTE, NC – MAY 13: Jailton Almeida celebrates his win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik via submission (rear naked choke) at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Almeida on May 13th, 2023 at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Matt Davies/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)forced to withdraw from his Nov. 11 title defense against ex-champion Stipe Miocic

Jailton Almeida, who is ranked ninth in the division, sees that opportunity and wants to seize it. And even before he competes against”I want to be the for UFC 295,” Almeida told Yahoo Sports early in an interview that was conducted to discuss his bout with Lewis.

Pavlovich had been training since he was the backup for Jones-Miocic, and Aspinall quickly accepted the bout when it was offered. “If I get out of this fight with no injuries and do what I plan to do, why not?” Almeida said about being the backup for Pavlovich and Aspinall. headtopics.com

Winning big fights never hurts, and facing his first opponent in the Top 10 comes at the perfect time for Almeida. Lewis isn’t the same guy he was at his peak, but he’s coming off a 33-second first-round knockout in July of Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 291. He’s ranked 10th and has a goal of working his way back up in the hopes of landing one more chance at the belt.

“I want to get a good win and then be remembered the following week,” Almeida said.”I’d love to be an alternate for that fight. Things happen all the time. You saw what happened in Abu Dhabi just 10 days or so before that fight card. So I’ll sign up if they need me. Opportunity comes sometimes when you least expect it, so the key is to be willing and be ready.” headtopics.com

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