The light heavyweight division now has a name.
Top Brazilian prospect Jailton Almeida (15-2) made short work of Danilo Marques (11-4) in his octagon debut at UFC Vegas 47, needing a little under three minutes to ground Marques and pound him out for a TKO victory.
Watch Almeida’s impressive finish above.
Afterwards, Almeida respectfully called out legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Shogun is Marques’ close friend.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion may want to think twice about stepping into the cage with Almeida after the newcomer’s brilliant performance on Saturday. Almeida used his well-known wrestling skills to quickly take Marques down. He alternated between dropping strong strikes from the top and threat with a choke, as Marques was placed squarely on defense.
Eventually, referee Mike Beltran stepped in to call the contest when it was clear that Marques was unable to escape the position. The official time of the stoppage came at 2:57 of Round 1.
Almeida, a recent Contender Series signing, won his 10th straight fight. All 15 of his pro victories have come by way of knockout or submission. Almeida compared the style of his fighting to the undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Numagomedov in a interview.
“It’s a different game, Khabib-style. Almeida stated that no one could stop this game. I’m versatile. I can take you down and trade with your feet. Khabib is a great video to watch and I try my best to emulate his style. You can expect an aggressive style with takedowns, submissions or a ground-and-pound finale. Khabib is a reference for me.”
Marques lost his last two fights. His UFC record drops to 2-2.
