Jailton Almeida secured a unanimous decision against Derrick Lewis on Saturday in front his home nation as the UFC Fight Night travelled to Brazil and asked for his next fight to be against the #1 heavyweight Cyril Gane.
Whilst Almeida’s stock continues to surge with the Brazilian still undefeated since he made his UFC debut in the Dana White Contender Series in 2021, Derrick Lewis’ time in the UFC is at its penultimate stage, with the 38-year-old having suffered his fourth loss in five fights.
Despite his incredible first round flying knee against Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Lewis has very much stagnated in the last few months as his credentials in a hugely contested heavyweight division continues to deter.
Almeida dominated the fight from start to finish, controlling Lewis on the ground and maintaining a smart distance when in the stand-up- with the judges awarding him a sizeable margin of victory of 50-44, 50-44, 50-45.
The Brazilian has now set his sights on opposition higher up the rankings- but rather than call out someone Serghei Spivac or Curtis Blaydes, Almeida has gone big and signalled Cyril Gane as his next target.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe number one ranked heavyweight has still only tasted defeat against current champion Jon Jones and MMA fighter turned more than half-decent boxer, Francis Ngannou. Gane might be a step too far for Almeida, but he was determined in his post-fight interview that his eyes are set on a date with the Frenchman.
He said: “Remember yesterday, he said he wanted a brawl, and I said it was going to be a show, so did I give you guys a show or what?
“We knew he had a heavy hand, we had 15-20 days to come up with a strategy for this fight, and we were able to keep him down and avoid his right hand. I was touched, and I didn’t really feel it.
“I’m going to call out a name. I want Cyril Gane, I’ll fight him in Paris, wherever.”
The card also featured several other Brazilian fighters such as the co-main event, which saw Gabriel Bonfim get knocked out by Nicolas Dalby, Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira picked up a decision win over Don’Tale Mayes and Caio Borralho edged past Abus Magomedov via decision and after the fight called out Dricus Du Plessis.
