Highlighting UFC Fight Night, Jailton Almeida showcases his skilled grappling and defeats Derrick Lewis by unanimous decision in São Paulo, Brazil on Saturday.
Almeida jumpstarts the fight by taking Lewis down in just the opening minute, but Lewis is able to escape submission attempts despite remaining in bottom position for the majority of the round. Foreshadowing the following rounds, the remainder of the fight was essentially a grappling match initiated by Almeida, continuously taking down Lewis and controlling the fight in the offensive top position. When it came to the judges’ scorecards, Almeida won via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-45), making this a 15-fight win streak.
The co-main event between Nicolas Dalby and Gabriel Bonfim starts out at an extremely fast pace, with both fighters exchanging back-to-back power shots. While Dalby’s pressure came to his advantage in the first round, a body lock and takedown by Bonfim allowed him the top grappling position for the entire second half of the round. The second round started off by another two successful takedowns by Bonfim, followed by minutes of grappling between the two welterweights. Towards the end of the round, Dalby picked up his striking with Bonfim’s back against the fence. Several knees to the face sends Bonfim to the canvas, and Dalby seals the deal with strikes until separated. Dalby is declared winner by knockout at 4:33 of the second round, giving Bonfim his first loss.
Heavyweight contenders Rodrigo Nascimento and Don’Tale Mayes came out swinging to open the next fight. As the two fighters brawled it out with various striking combinations, Nascimento had the upper-hand in the first round, as his pressure and aggressiveness forced Mayes to eat countless jabs and straight shots. Although the pace of the fight died down tremendously after the first round, the consistent control over his opponent gave Nascimento the victory in the eyes of the judges, winning the bout by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Similarly in the following fight, there was a relatively slow, “sparring-like” pace in the middleweight matchup between Caio Borralho and Abus Magomedov. However, through his constant in-and-out movement and being the more aggressive striker, Borralho was able to tag Magomedov with a slick elbow in the middle of the third round, following with a flying knee and continuous strikes until he began sinking towards the canvas. The fight ended with Borralho on the back of Magomedov, and Borralho won the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
The main card opened with a spectacular finish in the 165-pound catchweight matchup between Elves Brener and Kaynan Kruschewsky. While both fighters came out strong with fast leg kicks and powerful striking combinations, a leaping right cross-left hook combo from Brener sent Kruschewsky face-down on the canvas, declaring him the winner by knockout (left hand) at 4:01 of the first round.
