Jailton Almeida confirms plans to leave UFC heavyweight division

Jailton Almeida‘s team has announced that he is heading to the light heavyweight division following a recent loss to Rizvan Kuniev.

It’s safe to say that for a while now, Jailton Almeida hasn’t exactly been regarded as a fan favorite. Once upon a time, he seemed like someone who may be able to make some noise in the UFC’s heavyweight division – but that has since dwindled. Between poor performances and a string of losses, it was clear that he needed to pick up a redeeming win on Saturday night, and he wasn’t able to get that done.

Instead, Jailton Almeida lost to Rizvan Kuniev, and questions immediately arose about what is going to be next for him. Some reports from the likes of Connect Cast implied that he was interested in heading back down to 205 pounds, which would make sense, given his size and how he’s struggled in recent fights.

Now, it’s been reported that the news has been confirmed to MMA Fighting by his managers Tiago Okamura and Leonardo Pateira that Jailton Almeida has already told the UFC about his plan.

Jailton Almeida’s next step

Almeida’s overall lack of forward pressing and action has been one of his biggest downfalls in the eyes of the fans which, in itself, is disappointing given that heavyweight isn’t really that deep in its current state as it is. Yet while the division may be losing a potentially interesting prospect, it does open up some doors for him at light heavyweight.

Longevity is the name of the game in mixed martial arts and Almeida wants to maximise his abilities while he is still physically able to do so. Whether or not this move is going to pay off, however, remains to be seen, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of matchmaking he gets.