UFC heavyweight Jailton Almeida holds three impressive records in company history and that gives him extra confidence going into what could be a title eliminator clash with Alexander Volkov in Abu Dhabi.
“Malhadinho” and Volkov collide in the main card of UFC 321 this Saturday in the United Arab Emirates, and the Brazilian sits at the top of the list in three categories. Not only Almeida holds the all-time record for control time percentage (84.2%) and top position percentage (77.2%), his defense on the feet is on point with only 0.88 strikes absorbed per minute throughout nine octagon appearances.
“I get hit more in training than in the fight,” Almeida told MMA Fighting. “You end up getting comfortable in the fight. The guys I spar with are faster in the striking. Heavyweights use so much power when they throw [strikes] they end up losing speed, and you can see the strike coming.”
Almeida started his UFC career as a light heavyweight and eventually stopped cutting weight, winning five of his next six with four finishes. He felt “too dense” against Alexandr Romanov, a fight he won via first-round submission, and came back lighter for his next fight to knock out Serghei Spivac in the opening round.
“It gives me confidence to show my [striking] against Spivac,” Almeida said. “I’m well-prepared. In fact, I’m still evolving. Everybody knows Volkov is a big guy and very experienced on the feet, he has strong kicks and hits hard, but we’re prepared for everything. We’ll strike if we need to, and we’ll take him down if it gets rough. But striking with Spivac made me more confident and comfortable to showcase my striking a little bit more.”
Volkov “is a good match-up for me,” Almeida said, but he doesn’t think it’s an easy contest if they hit the ground.
“And everybody knows Volkov is a black belt in jiu-jitsu,” Almeida said. “he’s been competing in jiu-jitsu, I’ve seen some of his posts [on social media]. He was submitted by Tom Aspinall, grappled with Ciryl Gane and fought Curtis Blaydes. He’s also evolving. Even though he’s mostly a striker, he’s evolving on the ground. … Volkov has more than 50 fights and is also aiming for the same thing I am. He fought Ciryl Gane — and I think he won, I’l give him that —, so he also wants to fight for the belt.”
The top-ranked heavyweights will compete in the undercard of the undisputed championship bout between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane in Abu Dhabi, and Almeida said he was not informed if he could serve as a backup in case something happens to either fighter in the main event.
That said, he still prepared for five rounds in the gym in case the call comes.
The match-up was considered for the UFC Rio card earlier this month, but ultimately booked for Abu Dhabi. According to “Malhadinho”, that was Volkov’s call.
“He would never ask to fight in Rio because the crowd would be against him, but Abu Dhabi is also full of Brazilians,” Almeida said. “There are a lot of Brazilian jiu-jitsu coaches there. Either way, regardless of where it is, I just want to fight. He asked it to be there and we didn’t turn it down. I would fight him in Mars if I had to.”
