Derrick Lewis to Replace Curtis Blaydes Against Jailton Almeida at UFC Sao Paulo

Jailton Almeida will be going from a grappler to a striker on a month’s notice.

Per Ag. Fight on Monday, Curtis Blaydes will no longer be competing in the headliner of UFC Sao Paulo, also known as UFC Fight Night 231. In his stead will be Derrick Lewis (27-11, 1 NC), who will be stepping in on short notice against Almeida (19-2). The reason for Blaydes’ withdrawal has not yet been made public. News of this change in the heavyweight headliner on Nov. 4 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.

Lewis saw his career-long three-fight skid come to a crashing halt in July when he smashed Marcos Rogerio de Lima in 33 seconds. This marked his first win since 2021, with stoppage losses to Tai Tuivasa, Sergei Pavlovich and Sergey Spivak along the way. With his speedy finish of Rogerio de Lima, Lewis reestablished himself as the UFC’s knockout king, with 14 victories via strikes in his storied tenure with the company.

Since joining the UFC off the 2021 season of Dana White's Contender Series, Almeida has been a man possessed in the cage. Stringing together five straight stoppages – none taking place any later than 2:56 of Round 2 – the Brazilian officially moved back to heavyweight against Parker Porter in 2022. Each of the last three triumphs for “Malhadinho” have earned him “Performance of the Night” checks.

UFC Fight Night 231 goes down at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 4. The remainder of the card’s lineup is not official, but bouts expected on the main card include a welterweight scrap between Gabriel Bonfim and Nicolas Dalby, a heavyweight slugfest pitting Rodrigo Nascimento against Don'Tale Mayes and clash between 185-pounders Caio Borralho and Abusupiyan Magomedov.