UFC Vegas 113 wasn’t a night full of excitement, as it only saw four finishes across 13 fights. However, Jailton Almeida might have upset fans even more. The reason? Despite being ranked sixth in the heavyweight division, ‘Malhadinho’ couldn’t defeat Rizvan Kuniev, delivering a performance that was essentially a snoozer. 

In a three-round showdown, both fighters had a lackluster start, showing very little movement. There was definitely a lot of wrestling involved, with two big boys trying to ground each other. But most of it didn’t happen in the center, as the fighters spent much of their time trying to take each other down from clinch positions against the cage. Getting bored with this clash of titans, fans started chanting, “break them up.”

In the last round, however, the heavyweights tried to stand and bang. But while Rizvan Kuniev at least pushed the pace and hunted for a knockout, Jailton Almeida avoided any chance of a collision. On top of it, the 265 lbs fighters were so exhausted that their shots no longer had much sting, giving fans flashbacks to the UFC 325 heavyweight fight between Tai Tuivasa and Tallison Teixeira.

The crowd filled the arena with prolonged boos until the fight finally ended. When the dust settled, the judges declared Rizvan Kuniev the winner of the bout, earning a statement victory over a ranked heavyweight. Meanwhile, the Brazilian has now lost two in a row, drawing criticism for his fighting approach in both recent outings. Even Dana White was very critical of his performance against Alexander Volkov at UFC 321. 

“You can’t win a fight by just laying on top of somebody… I was actually very happy with the way the judges scored that fight,” the UFC CEO said during UFC 321 post-fight presser.

Now, after Almeida’s performance, disappointed fans started rallying, demanding the UFC cut the Brazilian immediately from the roster. From banter to rage comments and the state of the heavyweight division, fans had plenty to say after UFC Vegas 113’s heavyweight fight, which seemingly embarrassed an already slow-moving division.

Fans react to Jailton Almeida’s UFC Vegas 113 loss  

One fan took to Reddit and posted a picture of the 34-year-old with the caption: “Remove this man from the ufc roster.” And soon enough, support followed with another user writing, “RIGHT NOW.”

Another user wrote, “I say cut both of them.”

A fan quickly chimed in, questioning Almeida’s heavyweight ranking, “What a stinker, ranked 6 btw.” Following that reaction, another user reflected on the state of the heavyweight division, “Ranked 6 because the heavyweight division is in shambles. I don’t understand how. They really can’t find big guys who want to fight?”

For now, Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane, and Alexander Volkov are among the most active heavyweights. But contenders like Waldo Cortes Acosta and Valter Walker are definitely creating a new surge in the division. Still, in its entirety, the 265 lbs division is definitely in a worse state compared to the Brock Lesnar and Cain Velazquez era.

Amid the UFC heavyweight’s declining period, another user mentioned that Jailton Almeida’s fighting style simply isn’t very forward-moving, “Definitely not match throwing, that’s just actually the type of performance Jailton Almeida always puts on.”

This is true, as the Brazilian mostly relies on his ground game, which is clearly a class apart. However, when the pressure is high, he doesn’t like to trade with opponents, which is very contrary to what fans usually expect from heavyweight fights.

Not being happy with the current roster, a fan commented, “They need to sign some HW kickboxers.”

Well, the promotion is reportedly in talks to sign Rico Verhoeven, who hasn’t lost in Glory Kickboxing for a decade.

But another user raised an interesting point, writing, “They tried to already, they make a lot more money in kickboxing and not only at heavyweight.”

Here, the user pointed out how Alex Pereira’s former opponent, Artem Vakhitov, couldn’t make his UFC debut due to contract disputes.

That said, amid the current state of the heavyweight division where intrigue feels low, do you think the UFC signing more heavyweights would actually solve the problem? Also, will Dana White cut Jailton Almeida from UFC? Let us know in the comments section below.