Jailton Almeida’s two-fight losing streak has resulted in the top-10 heavyweight contender parting ways with the UFC.
The organization has released the 34-year-old Brazilian from his contract less than a week after losing a lacklustre decision to Rizvan Kuniev, according to multiple reports.
The loss was the second consecutive dud for Almeida, who was coming off a split-decision loss to Alexander Volkov in October. Laerte Viana first reported his UFC release on X.
Almeida had previously been viewed as a title threat in the division after starting his UFC tenure 8-1 before his current skid and had won 17-of-18 overall dating back to 2018, with his lone loss during that stretch being to current No. 4-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes.
He managed to rise to No. 6 in the UFC’s heavyweight contender rankings, but had begun developing a reputation as a boring fighter to watch compete.
Following his loss to Kuniev, Almeida revealed via his manager that he will be moving back down to the light-heavyweight division. If his next fight does take place in the 205-pound division, it does not appear it will be under the UFC banner.
Almeida is 22-5 in professional mixed martial arts and 8-3 at the UFC level with notable wins over Derrick Lewis, Serghei Spivac and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
