Jailton Almeida was “truly surprised but really happy at the same time” when UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jon Jones was officially retired from the sport, which led to Tom Aspinall being elevated to undisputed heavyweight champion. That finally clears a massive logjam in the division, and “Malhadinho” hopes it leads to a championship clash with Aspinall.
Almeida made short work of Alexandr Romanov and Serghei Spivac in his most recent appearances, both back-to-back first-round finishes to rebound from the first loss of his UFC career. The other names currently ranked ahead of him on the official UFC list are Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes.
Gane hasn’t fought since scoring a highly contested split decision over Volkov in December 2024, also Volkov’s most recent bout. Blaydes only lasted 60 seconds against Aspinall after defeating Almeida, and won a split decision over Rizvan Kuniev this past weekend at UFC Baku. Pavlovich, who was knocked out by Aspinall for the interim belt in late 2023, faces Waldo Cortes-Acosta in August.
“We’re hopeful,” Almeida told MMA Fighting. “In fact, I’m the only guy in the division asking to fight Tom Aspinall. If you look at it, Volkov doesn’t ask for it. Ciryl Gane is shooting movies, Pavlovich already fought him and has another fight booked. I’m the only one left, and I’m the one calling him out.”
Aspinall has mentioned Almeida in the past, as well as other options for his next bout, and the Brazilian says no other heavyweight is being as vocal as him about the opportunity.
“I follow Tom Aspinall on Instagram and watch all his training. It’s like homework for me already,” Almeida said. “I’m the one talking about him, sending messages, posting on Twitter, using social media to promote the fight. That’s how it all starts. I don’t see anyone else calling out Tom Aspinall. I’m the only one asking to fight him. … I’ve seen him talk about me on podcasts, so let’s put pen to paper and sign the contract to fight me.”
Almeida has won eight of nine bouts since joining the UFC in 2022, scoring finishes in all but one of those victories. Aspinall has the exact same octagon record, but a 100 percent finish rate.
“It’s going to be a great fight because our styles are similar. He’s fast. Not surprisingly he’s the champion,” Almeida said. “What I’ve seen from Tom Aspinall is that he doesn’t fight five rounds. He’s never fought five rounds in his life. He gets tired after the second. Tom Aspinall was never tested to fight more than three rounds. I’m doing six, seven rounds in the gym already, and I’m not even training to fight yet.
“If I fight Tom Aspinall, I’ll take him to the third round to see how he does. But Aspinall is no fool, he’s very experienced and has fought tough opponents, so I have to be smart and come up with a good strategy to beat him. To me, when the cage closes there, it’s a war. I’m ready for a war.”
