What’s next for the heavyweight title prospect, Jailton Almeida? Well, ‘Malhadinho’ is about to clash against Alexandr Romanov on UFC 302. With a record of 20 victories and 3 losses, Almeida is one of the biggest prospects for the heavyweight title. His last fight was a disaster for him as he was brutally defeated by Curtis Blaydes in the very second round by way of knockout. The match broke his undefeated streak in UFC and drifted him away from the heavyweight gold.

So at UFC 302, ‘Malhadinho’ will be looking to bounce back with a win against Romanov, but wait a second! Another Almeida is fighting on the same card. Middleweight fighter Cesar Almeida will be fighting Roman Kopylov in his third fight in the promotion. However, are they related to each other? Let us find out.

Are Cesar Almeida and Jailton Almeida related?

Both Cesar Almeida and Jailton Almeida hail from Brazil and are working towards making a name for themselves in the Las Vegas-based promotion. Therefore, it is natural to think that there is some connection between the two. Unfortunately, the pair does not share any similarities except for being on the UFC 302 card.

Jailton Almeida grew up in the streets of Brazil and looked up to his father, who was also a boxer and competed in Salvador Bahia. The heavyweight fighter comes from a family of well-versed fighters. If we talk about his family lineage, then along with his father, his uncle and brother are fighters too. It would be better to state that the heavyweight fighter has always been surrounded by boxers all his life.

‘Malhadinho’ has 11 siblings, but it is rather unknown who they are, except for his older brother Alexander, who reportedly disappeared after becoming involved with cartel activities. ‘Cesinha’, on the other hand, fights out of Sao Paulo, Brazil while ‘Malhadinho’ fights out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. In addition to that, ‘Cesinha’ is 4 years older than ‘Malhadinho’.

As the two fighters gear up for UFC 302, Jailton Almeida received a big shock as it is believed that he managed to upset UFC CEO, Dana White.

‘Malhadinho’ demoted in UFC 302

Being a warrior in the Almeida family, how can Jailton Almeida not follow in the footsteps of his ancestors? At the age of 11, ‘Malhadinho’ started training with his father who was an esteemed boxer at that time, and the rest was just history. While in conversation with the media, ‘Malhadinho’ explained that he gives credit to his father for what he has made him. “My father is a former boxer, and I’ve been doing sports since I was six years old. I started doing jiu-jitsu at age 11, and in 2012 I made my MMA debut,” claimed the fighter.

Being on UFC 302 could have been a stepping stone in Almeida’s MMA journey. However, before the commencement of the event, Dana White decided to shift the Jailton Almeida vs. Alexandr Romanov to the prelims from the main card. It was a big blow for the heavyweight as being on the main card of the five-star event would have given him a better opportunity to gain the limelight.

It is believed that ‘Malhadinho’s boring fight against Derrick Lewis in 2023 was the reason for the change. The two fighters stayed on the ground for almost the entire game, thus providing the fans with a boring game. It seems that the 32-year-old needs to come up with a better fighting technique and strategy to provide a thrilling contest to the fans.

What’s your take on Jailton Almeida’s career? State your thoughts in the comments below.