Changes are coming for “Malhadinho.”
Top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida returns to action on short notice when he collides with Russian prospect Rizvan Kuniev in the ‘featured bout’ of UFC Vegas 113 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 7, 2026) inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite scoring seven finishes in his eight UFC victories — six of them coming in the first round — Almeida has recently faced criticism for being “boring” due to his grappling-heavy approach.
While he has only gone to the judges’ scorecards twice in his UFC career, both bouts were widely panned for their lack of action, largely because of Almeida’s smothering top control and conservative ground-and-pound.
Almeida addressed those critiques during UFC Vegas 113 media day.
“I think people need to see the entire journey and actually watch my fights from the start,” Almeida told MMAMania.com. “Watch what I did on the Contender Series. There were many fights where I went out there and wasn’t even struck. I’m not going to let one fight define me. People need to actually watch the fights and see that my journey in the UFC has been pretty good.”
According to Almeida, the issue wasn’t his skill set — it was his mindset.
“It all comes back to aggressiveness, which is something I’ve mentioned before,” Almeida added. “I was trained and ready for Alexander Volkov, but the aggressiveness wasn’t there. You need confidence, and I didn’t have it to execute my ground-and-pound. It’s more of a change in mentality — being more aggressive.”
That shift is already underway. Almeida revealed he has placed a renewed emphasis on developing his ground-and-pound rather than relying solely on submissions, an area where he already owns four UFC wins.
He may need every bit of it against Kuniev, who brings a dangerous striking arsenal and a solid ground game of his own. For Almeida, UFC Vegas 113 represents more than just another fight — it’s a chance to remind fans why he climbed the Heavyweight ladder so quickly in the first place.
For the rest of the UFC Vegas 113 fight card and Paramount+ lineup click here.
