Jailton Almeida Steamrolls Jairzinho Rozenstruik in UFC on ABC 4 Headliner

It is probably fair at this point to call Jailton Almeida a serious problem for the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division.

In the main event of UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Almeida (19-2, 5-0 UFC) needed just 3:43 to overwhelm Jairzinho Rozenstruik on the ground. The chiseled Brazilian entered as an overwhelming favorite and the bout played out more or less as expected, with Almeida exploiting Rozenstruik’s porous wrestling and grappling on his way to an effortless-looking win. “Bigi Boy” managed to turn aside Almeida’s first takedown attempt, a double-leg from too far outside in the opening moments, but Almeida tried again seconds later and was successful, wrapping up Rozenstruik’s legs and tipping him over in the middle of the cage. “Malhadinho” immediately moved to half-guard and worked to advance, chipping away with short strikes and moving the bigger man to the fence. With under two minutes to go in Round 1, Almeida moved to mount, dropped a couple of strikes and waited for his opponent to turn his back. Rozenstruik did so, and Almeida immediately took the position, sank a rear-naked choke and flattened his man out. Rozenstruik tapped within seconds and Dan Miragliotta intervened for the stoppage. The win was Almeida’s 13th straight overall, the last five of which have come in the UFC Octagon—all by knockout or submission, four of them in the first round.

Walker Punishes Smith

Johnny Walker (21-7, 7-4 UFC) used his reach, heavy hands and a solid investment in leg kicks to cruise to a unanimous decision win over former light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith (36-18, 11-8 UFC) in the co-main event. Walker’s frightening power was on display throughout, notably late in the first round when he caught Smith with a punch combination that dropped him to his knees. Smith managed to grab a single leg, then somehow survived the onslaught of hammerfists from the titanic Walker and secured a takedown that allowed him to recover and ride out the round. The second round was a more competitive affair, as both men landed numerous hard strikes amid several swings of momentum. By the final round, however, Walker’s steady stream of leg kicks had paid dividends, as Smith’s left calf was visibly swollen, and his movement compromised. Walker hurt Smith again with punches, this time evading the desperation takedown, and by the time Smith struggled back to his feet in the second half of the round, he appeared to have little left to offer. The Brazilian by way of Dublin was rewarded for his efforts with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) and the opportunity to call out light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill, who was present in the arena and seemed receptive to the notion.

Garry Head Kicks Rodriguez

In the feature fight of “UFC Charlotte,” welterweight super-prospect Ian Garry passed his latest test with flying colors by knocking out Daniel Rodriguez with a beautiful right high kick and a torrent of follow-up punches. Facing his first opponent ranked in the UFC’s official Top 15, the 25-year-old Irishman engaged in the kind of firefight that has characterized his run in the Octagon thus far, taking Rodriguez’s heavy jabs and low kicks and returning fire with kicks to the body and legs. When “The Future” decided to go upstairs, he made it count, nailing Rodriguez with a completely unblocked head kick that sent him stumbling backwards in a daze. Garry gave chase, hustled “D-Rod” to the canvas and poured it on with a couple of huge ground strikes. Rodriguez turned away, offering nothing in return, and referee Dan Miragliotta was forced to intervene at 2 minutes, 57 seconds. The win elevated Garry’s record to a perfect 12-0, 5-0 since joining the UFC as a former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder. Rodriguez fell to 17-4 overall, 7-3 in the UFC.

Ulberg Lamps Potieria

Carlos Ulberg (8-1, 4-1 UFC) continued his inexorable march through the light heavyweight division, dropping Ihor Potieria (19-4, 1-2 UFC) with a left hook and finishing him with punches and hammerfists on the ground in the first round. Ulberg calmly absorbed his foe’s aggressive approach, evading most of Potieria’s strikes, measuring him and biding his time for the right moment to counter. That moment came two minutes in, when the Ukrainian charged forward with a big overhand right. Ulberg responded with a short left that dropped Potieria onto his face, then pounced and followed up with a series of uncontested blows on the ground. “Black Jag” appeared to decide on his own that Potieria had had enough and stood up to celebrate, but referee Keith Peterson evidently agreed, as he moved in to make the stoppage official at 2:09 of Round 1. The win is Ulberg’s fourth straight since dropping his UFC debut and his third by first-round knockout, marking the City Kickboxing export as a contender on the rise.

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Morono Taps Out Means

The main card opener saw Alex Morono (23-8, 1 NC) and Tim Means (32-15-1, 1 NC) deliver on their respective reputations as welterweight action merchants, engaging in a back-and-forth first round before Morono closed things out with a second-round guillotine choke. Both men had their moments in the opening five minutes, with each landing head kicks on the other and exchanging heavy punches in close quarters. The second round seemed set to offer more of the same, until Means changed levels for a sneaky double-leg takedown attempt. “The Great White” was all over it, snaring Means’ neck and falling to guard, briefly trapping one of Means’ arms as he did so. Morono adjusted his grip and cranked, and by the time Means extricated his right arm, he was tapping with his left. Referee Wayne Spinola stepped in at 2:09 of Round 2, giving Morono the submission victory. The win brought the Houston native’s Octagon mark to 12-5 and put him back in the win column after his December TKO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio; Means fell to 14-12 with one no contest in the UFC with the loss, his third in a row.


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