Jailton Almeida set a heavyweight record in fight with Derrick Lewis at UFC São Paulo

Jailton Almeida may not have the approval of the fans following UFC Sao Paulo, but he did set a record.

Almeida secured a clear unanimous decision victory over Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo. Despite scoring takedowns consistently and maintaining top control, Almeida wasn’t very active with strikes, which led the Brazilian crowd to boo at one point. Still, it was a record-setting performance from Almeida.

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Jailton Almeida Sets New UFC Record

Jailton Almeida had so much control time that he earned a new record for UFC heavyweights. Almeida had a whopping 21 minutes and 10 seconds of control time.

Jailton Almeida's 21:10 of control time vs. Derrick Lewis is a new single-fight UFC heavyweight record. pic.twitter.com/Dzx8XQu2X1

— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2023

During the UFC Sao Paulo post-fight show, Almeida explained why he took a conservative approach during the bout (h/t MMAFighting).

“It was a tough fight,” Almeida said via translator on the UFC Sao Paulo post-fight show. “I was surprised that he never backed down. Derrick fought all the way. Although he fought last minute, he really put on a good fight. But I managed to fight a good fight.

“I was happy with my performance, even though I didn’t knock him out, I’m ready for any fights. I’m ready to fight five rounds for any opponent.

“The strategy was to control him on grappling,” he said. “But he’s very strong, and his hand is twice as big as mine. My forearm is quite thin, and he was able to grab ahold my forearm and really control the blows that I was trying to give out.”

Some say Almeida’s stock may have taken a hit despite setting a new record. It’ll be interesting to see who he is matched up with next.