Not a new beginning Jailton Almeida was looking for.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight contender came up short in his competition Akhmat Absolute Championship (ACA) debut earlier today (Saturday, September 12, 2026), dropping a unanimous decision to the former ACA Champion Yevgeny Goncharov ACA 207 in the main event from Basket Hall in Krasnodar, Russia.
Almeida immediately went to his bread and butter, repeatedly trying to drag Goncharov to the ground in the opening round. However, the Russian heavyweight stuffed the early takedown attempts and forced “Malhadinho” to fumble. After a brief pause for an accidental low blow, Almeida kept up the pressure and pressed Goncharov against the cage, but it was Goncharov who landed the harder punches and appeared to hurt the Brazilian before the bell.
Almeida had more success in the second round, landing on the feet before finishing with a powerful takedown with about one minute remaining. He threatened a submission and landed a hard elbow from high position, but ran out of time to capitalize.
The third round produced a big surprise when Goncharov turned the tables and took Almeida to the center of the cage. Almeida remained active from his back, defending submission attempts and firing kicks from underneath, but Goncharov maintained control before unloading a late barrage of ground and punches. Almeida lived until the final bell, but all three judges gave Goncharov the win.
Check out some of the highlights below:
The loss was Almeida’s first appearance since The UFC surprisingly released him after losing successive decisions Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev. Almeida finished his Octagon run 8-3 with seven stoppages in eight wins, but his latest loss extends the first three-fight losing streak of his pro career.
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