Jailton Almeida Calls for Interim Heavyweight Title Fight Against Tom Aspinall

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida believes his next fight should be against interim champ Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall scored a Round 1 knockout win over Russian standout Sergei Pavlovich in a short-notice interim title booking at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. A week prior, Almeida earned a lopsided decision win over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 231 and proceeded to call out former interim champ Ciryl Gane in the aftermath of that victory.

While “Malhadinho” is still interested in a clash against Gane, he believes his next outing might be against Aspinall after he recently heard the Brit mention his name in an interview. While Aspinall is arguably one of the most agile and speedy heavyweights to step inside the Octagon, Almeida believes he can match up with the interim champ in that aspect.

“Against Ciryl Gane would be ideal, but Tom Aspinall already spoke to the media or whoever and is already talking about a fight with Jailton. So, I think probably the Tom Aspinall fight will come first... It will be a very good fight because Tom Aspinall is a complete fighter,” Almeida told MMAjunkie.com. “He has really good movement. I see myself as an equal in the sense that it would be a good, fair fight. It would be for the future of the category. It’s going to be the future fight for the title.”

To set the record straight, Aspinall recently mentioned Almeida while shrugging off a callout from Gane, suggesting “Bon Gamin” fight the Brazilian. Aspinall also called for Jon Jones to be stripped of the heavyweight title with no timeline in sight for a return from his pectoral injury. However, like UFC CEO Dana White, Almeida also disagreed with the Englishman’s demand for Jones to be stripped of the title.

“Jon Jones is still the best in the division. I believe Tom Aspinall could eventually get there, but for me, there is no doubt that Jon Jones is still No. 1,” the 32-year-old said.

Almeida has been undefeated since 2018 and went to a decision against Lewis for the first time in 14 outings. Meanwhile, Aspinall’s UFC record is nearly perfect with seven stoppage wins, only marred by an unfortunate loss against Curtis Blaydes, where his knee gave out early in the fight.