-
Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer
A marquee heavyweight matchup between Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida will headline a UFC Fight Night in November, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
Contracts have not been issued, but both sides have verbally agreed to a five-round main event on Nov. 4. The UFC has not yet announced the event; however, it is expected to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
MMA Junkie first reported the pairing.
Blaydes and Almeida are the Nos. 4 and 9 ranked heavyweights in the UFC, respectively. Although Blaydes has the more established résumé, there is a lot of hype building around Almeida, particularly after a first-round submission win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the main event of a UFC on ABC card last month.
Almeida (19-2) is 5-0 in the UFC with five finishes. He has fought at light heavyweight and heavyweight, and he is best known for his submission skills on the ground.
Blaydes (17-4) has been one of the most consistent heavyweights of the past seven years, but he’s suffered major losses in key moments against names like Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich. He lost to Pavlovich via first-round TKO in his most recent appearance in April.
Jon Jones is the UFC’s current heavyweight champion. There are expectations he might face Stipe Miocic in late 2023, however the UFC has not officially booked that matchup as of yet.