“I was given a fight with the number five ranked fighter, Curtis Blades, but he dropped out, and after beating Derrick Lewis, I’m not going to forgive a fight with the number five of the division again,” MMA Fighting quoted the Brazilian as saying. “I think we can put on a good fight against Cyril Gagne – a man who once held the interim title.”
That said, Almeida is not inclined to underestimate Gan, who crushingly lost to Jon Jones in a fight for the vacant championship belt before beating Sergey Spivak in dominant fashion.
“I think Cyril Gun had too much respect for Jon Jones. He was too nervous and Jon ran him over. You saw the difference in the fight with Spivak. Spivak couldn’t do anything. Cyril behaved differently in the fight with Jones, who ran him over like a truck and choked him out with a guillotine choke that nobody expected.”
As a reminder, the heavyweight fight between Jailton Almeida and Derrick Lewis will be the main event of UFC Fight Night 231, which will take place on November 4 in Sao Paulo.