Cesar Almeida turned in the most important win of his MMA career earlier tonight (Sat., Nov. 14, 2026) at UFC 334 LIVE on Paramount+ from inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, stopping middleweight prospect Donte Johnson with a first-round TKO (punches).
Leading into this 185-pound matchup most believed Johnson’s power and aggressive offensive style would be too much for Almeida to handle. Almeida is a well-accomplished striker, but he’s been up-and-down through his UFC tenure to date. It
was up to Almeida to play spoiler on one of the biggest stages of the year and that’s exactly what he did against one of the most hyped names in the division.
Almeida quickly showed his ability to be more precise and lean on a slick shot selection to land his punches. A perfectly-placed right hand eventually scored and hurt Johnson bad. Johnson somehow survived, but was never the same. Almeida kept the pressure up and went on to land another huge right hand along the cage that dropped Almeida and forced the referee’s hand after some additional ground-and-pound..
Check out the video highlights below:
For complete UFC 334 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
