5 Things You Might Not Know About Jailton Almeida

Jailton Almeida appears to have made the jump to light speed.

On the verge of a Top 10 ranking in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division, the powerfully built Brazilian will square off with Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the UFC on ABC 4 headliner this Saturday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Almeida, 31, has rattled off 13 consecutive victories and could soon move into full-fledged title contention. He last competed on Jan. 21, when he wiped out Shamil Abdurakhimov with punches in the second round of their UFC 283 confrontation.

As Almeida approaches his looming battle with the brick-fisted Rozenstruik, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. Late to the party he was not.

Almeida made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 21 when he submitted Diego Reis with a first-round rear-naked choke at a Nocaute MMA Fight show on Sept. 29, 2012. He spent the first eight-plus years of his career honing his skills on the regional circuit in Brazil.

2. Championships marked his rise.

The Salvador, Brazil, native struck gold in the Fight on MMA and Thunder Fight organizations. Almeida captured the Fight on MMA light heavyweight crown when he dispatched Ednaldo Oliveira with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their July 2019 encounter and laid claim to the Thunder Fight light heavyweight title when he took out Edvaldo de Oliveira with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their February 2021 pairing.

3. He took a path more traveled.

Almeida punched his ticket to the UFC on Week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series on Sept. 14, 2021. There, he subdued Akhmat Fight Club export Nasrudin Nasrudinov with a second-round rear-naked choke to improve to 14-2 overall. Almeida was one of five fighters signed during the week, along with Jack Della Maddalena, Albert Duraev, Lukasz Brzeski and Jasmine Jasudavicius.

4. Versatility contributed to his climb.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Almeida has competed in four weight classes as a pro: welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. He broke into the Ultimate Fighting Championship at 205 pounds and cut down Danilo Marques with punches in less than three minutes at UFC Fight Night 200, then made the move to heavyweight.

5. Well-rounded skills made him an offensive force.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who started out as a boxer, Almeida has delivered all 18 of his victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission—a staggering 13 of them inside one round. He has gone the distance only once in 20 appearances, losing a unanimous decision to Bruno Assis under the Shooto Brazil flag in 2018.