Jailton Almeida dominates Derrick Lewis on mat, wins at UFC Sao Paulo،
Jailton Almeida dropped about 30 pounds against Derrick Lewis, who cut weight to reach the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, and Almeida, in full swing, was still able to manhandle the knockout artist.
Almeida defeated Lewis by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45) in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo on Saturday night in Brazil. It was a one-sided fight, albeit a somewhat lackluster one. Almeida beat Lewis time and time again and took many dominant positions in 25 minutes, but he couldn’t finish. Almeida didn’t do much damage either.
Almeida’s control time of 21 minutes, 10 seconds set a UFC heavyweight record and ranked fourth overall, according to UFC statistics. It was the highest control time in a UFC fight in 16 years, since Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca in 2007. Sherk’s 22:18 control time in that fight is the all-time record of the UFC.
Almeida had never made a decision in a victory before in his 11-year professional career. The fight’s distance was +1300, according to ESPN BET.
“We were able to do it, keep him on the ground and avoid his right hand,” Almeida said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “I was hit and I didn’t really feel it.”
Lewis represented the toughest test yet for Almeida, who has more than proven himself to be a true heavyweight contender in the UFC. Coming in, ESPN ranked Almeida 10th in the world at heavyweight.
Lewis weighed in at 265 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in and likely made weight before entering the Octagon on Saturday. Almeida weighed 236 on Friday. He overpowered the bigger man, but there was also plenty of technique in his wrestling and grappling – but not enough to earn a submission or TKO.
Afterward, Almeida called former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and said he would fight the fight in Gane’s home country of France.
Almeida (20-2) has won 15 straight fights, including his first six in the UFC. The Brazilian-born fighter had knocked out 14 opponents in a row before Saturday night. Almeida, 32, had won three consecutive fight night bonuses.
Lewis (27-12, 1 NC) has lost five of his last seven fights. The Houston resident was coming off a 33-second TKO victory over Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC 291 in July. Lewis, 38, holds the record for most knockouts in UFC history (14).
