LAS VEGAS – Lucas Almeida enters Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 58 matchup against Timmy Cuamba with back-to-back losses, but he’s ready to change the narrative.
After losing just once in his first 15 professional fights, Almeida (14-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has dropped his past two by stoppage against Andrei Fili and Pat Sabatini. He’s taken time to reflect why he came up short, and is eager to right the ship in a featherweight bout vs. Cuamba (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN2, ESPN+).
“This is new to me,” Almeida told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Thursday’s media day. “Never in my life, never in my career have I actually had two straight losses. I’m always just racking up consecutive wins, so it was new to me to actually go through that. I had to go through a lot of stuff to understand what’s happening, why that happened and what can be done. That’s the work that you put in.”
For Almeida, 33, it’s important to bounce back to show the younger generation that the lows that come with an MMA career can be overcome.
“You want to show what you’re here for,” Almeida said. “I want to make sure that I inspire people and I show why I’m here to those who look up to me, because I do have people to inspire that look up to me that do it as well. And you want to go back into the win column.”
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