Today’s Opinion: Jailton Almeida and Derrick Lewis disappoint in UFC Sao Paulo main event

While the Brazilian fans in attendance might have agreed with Jailton Almeida’s assessment that he put on a show in UFC Sao Paulo’s main event, fans watching around the world likely had a different opinion.

Dominating Derrick Lewis with grappling over five rounds is no small accomplishment, especially given the weight discrepancy between the two fighters. But the thorough positional control saw minimal action after the second round. Early in the fight,  Almeida sought submissions, threatening with arm triangles and rear naked chokes.

After that though, Almeida offered little threat to go along with the his ground control. At one point he was warned for inactivity while in mouth; afterwards, another instance saw him transition out of mount into side control and all the way out to half guard to avoid a stand up.

The blame can’t lie fully in Almeida’s hands, as “The Black Beast” offered little defence outside of his always-impressive use of power to simply stand back up. On the feet, Lewis landed little, attempting to defend against Almeida’s takedowns with an uppercut approach, similar to his successful knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes.

Credit can, and should, be given to Lewis for surviving on the ground with a dominant grappler like Almeida having so much control time. But Lewis’ inability to stop Almeida’s repeated takedowns and giving up mount left a lot to be desired.

During the post-fight interview, Almeida, who came into the fight ranked #9, called out former interim heavyweight champion Cyril Gane. It remains to be seen if the UFC will oblige his request for a top-ranked opponent or if he’ll need to continue working his way up the rankings.