Informed sources close to the situation said of the matchup.
The Blades vs. Almeida bout was supposed to headline UFC Fight Night 231 in Sao Paulo in November, however, the American was injured and pulled out of the event, while the Brazilian faced the replacement Derrick Lewis and defeated “The Black Beast” by unanimous decision for his sixth straight UFC victory.
Curtis Blades will return to the octagon after a loss, having already lost by technical knockout to Sergey Pavlovich in the first round. Prior to that, the American had won three straight, two of which he won early.
Curtis Blades and Jailton Almeida are currently ranked fifth and seventh in the UFC heavyweight rankings, respectively.