UFC ESPN 89 Preview
The UFC is heading back to Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday, November 4 for UFC on ESPN 89. The main event will be a high stakes heavyweight battle between rising contender #9 Jailton Almeida vs. former title challenger and fan-favorite #10 Derrick Lewis. Curtis Blaydes was originally scheduled to fight Almeida but withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons.
Almeida has won 14 straight fights and is 5-0 in the UFC with five finishes. He most recently defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruick by first round submission in May. A sixth win in a row over an accomplished fighter such as Lewis will certainly enter the Brazilian fighter into the title conversation.
Champion Jon Jones was scheduled to defend the belt against former champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 but an injury to Jones has forced the fight to be called off. An interim fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall has now been added to the event. This turn of events has made things interesting for title hopefuls in the heavyweight division such as Almeida.
Despite Jones being new to the heavyweight division, Almeida has dreamt of fighting him but now he perhaps has a different fight to look forward to. “I maybe do worry a little about not achieving my dream of fighting against Jon Jones,” Almeida said regarding Jones’ torn pectoral. “I’ve said it in interviews that my dream is to fight Jon Jones.
“However, I’m also happy for the opportunities to fight for the title that get opened up now. Jon Jones is out and now Tom Aspinall is fighting Sergei Pavlovich. If I beat Derrick Lewis on Saturday, I could be next or maybe they make me do one more. There’s a lot going on in the division, but it might open up opportunities.”
The 32-year-old thinks he could see a potential title opportunity sooner than later. "I want to be the [backup] for UFC 295," Almeida said.
While UFC 295 would be a quick turn around for Almeida, it could be possible. "If I get out of this fight with no injuries and do what I plan to do, why not?" Almeida said.
He continued, "I want to get a good win and then be remembered the following week," Almeida said. "I'd love to be an alternate for that fight. Things happen all the time. You saw what happened in Abu Dhabi just 10 days or so before that fight card. So I'll sign up if they need me. Opportunity comes sometimes when you least expect it, so the key is to be willing and be ready."
Almeida is prepared to deal with the added pressure of fighting in Brazil. "There's no pressure and the only change is really the vibe in the crowd," he said. "It's not really that different from how it was against Rozenstruik, because that was a high-profile fight. But I think what has changed, if anything, is that I'll have the crowd on my side in Brazil."
A win won’t come easy, but Almeida is ready for a war. "He's a knockout artist, he's a guy who's every well known in the U.S. and he's pretty much fought everyone," Almeida said of Lewis. "It would be very special for me."
Lewis is coming off a TKO over Marcos Rogerio de Lima in July which extended his UFC record for KO wins to 14. The victory was also a big rebound after Lewis lost three straight fights and many people were writing him off as the hard-hitting contender he once was.
The 38-year-old plans on being himself for this fight. “I shouldn’t have no problem defeating this guy,” Lewis continued. “I haven’t seen any video of him. My coaches have though, have talked about his ground game, his front kick — I need to watch out for that. But other than that, there’s not too much for me to worry about. I feel like I shouldn’t have no problem defeating this guy. Instead of waiting around for my opponent to do something, I’m going to go out there and do what I want to do,” said Lewis.
Lewis has been fighting in the UFC since 2014 and will go down as one of the most accomplished fighters in the UFC’s heavyweight division, despite never holding a title. He has key wins over Gabriel Gonzaga, Roy Nelson, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Travis Browne, Marcin Tybura, Francis Ngannou, Alexander Volkov, Blagoy Ivanov, Ilir Latifi, Aleksei Oleinik and Curtis Blaydes. A win over Almeida will remind the heavyweight division that he is always a threat and he has yet to become a steppingstone.
The rest of the main card:
Welterweight - Gabriel Bonfim vs. Nicolas Dalby
Heavyweight - Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Don'Tale Mayes
Middleweight - Caio Borralho vs. Abus Magomedov
Middleweight - Rodolfo Vieira vs. Armen Petrosyan
Lightweight - Ismael Bonfim vs. Vinc Pichel
ESPN + Prelims:
Catchweight (165 lb) - Elves Brener vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky
Welterweight - Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Bantamweight - Victor Hugo vs. Daniel Marcos
Light Heavyweight - Vitor Petrino vs. Modestas Bukauskas
Women's Strawweight - Angela Hill vs. Denise Gomes
Women's Strawweight - Eduarda Moura vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Lightweight - Kauê Fernandes vs. Marc Diakiese
