Given that it seems to have happened on a lark, Almeida’s move up
to heavyweight might wind up paying a ton of dividends. A top light
heavyweight prospect heading into his 2021 bout on Dana White’s
Contender Series, “Malhadinho” lived up to the hype by working for
takedowns and quickly finding his way to a finish. That has been
the book on the Brazilian during his three-fight UFC career.
Almeida has gotten all of his fights to the mat in short order and
found a win inside the first round. After a May pairing with
Maxim
Grishin fell through, Almeida chose to stay active and took a
late-notice fight at heavyweight against Parker
Porter. There was some concern as to how Almeida would fare in
pushing around a larger opponent, but those concerns were quickly
dashed. Almeida has chosen to stay at heavyweight since, taking a
catchweight bout in the meantime, and he looks to finally take on
Abdurakhimov in a twice-rebooked clash here. After an unsuccessful
UFC debut in 2015, Abdurakhimov settled into a solid niche as a Top
15 heavyweight, establishing himself as a surprisingly mobile
striker who could outmaneuver and counter his opponents. After a
2019 win over Marcin
Tybura made it five victories in six fights, Abdurakhimov has
seemingly hit a wall. Beyond having trouble even making it to the
cage, Abdurakhimov has looked slower and less durable as he has
entered his 40s, losing the advantages that led to his success.
Abdurakhimov is still the stoutest physical challenge Almeida has
faced yet, but this looks like another fight where the Brazilian
can quickly find a takedown and pour on the offense. The pick is
Almeida via first-round stoppage.
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