Cesar Almeida is gearing up to make his second appearance inside the UFC octagon at UFC 302 where he takes on the dangerous knockout artist, Roman Kopylov in a middleweight clash that promises fireworks for the fans! Almeida has an impressive background in kickboxing and before transitioning to MMA competed in GLORY and Superkombat Fighting Championship.

With a spectacular second-round finish in his UFC debut at UFC Vegas 90, Almeida has captured the attention of the fans with his impressive striking skills. As such, let’s take a look and explore all we know about his ethnicity, origins, and more!

Cesar Almeida is Brazilian and is an accomplished kickboxer

Cesar Almeida was born on March 28, 1988, and hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and speaks Portuguese as his main language. According to information available on his GLORY fighter profile, Almeida revealed that he wanted to be a civil engineer when he was younger, but due to the rough neighborhood he grew up in, his dreams were sidetracked.

He stated, “I was born and raised in Parque Edu Chaves, one of the more dangerous areas of city. It’s a place you have to learn how to defend yourself very early.”

To protect himself, Almeida began training in boxing, which eventually led to him finding his way to kickboxing, a sport he was naturally drawn to due to his talents in soccer. However, it wasn’t till he saw Brazilian kickboxing legends like Francisco Filho and Glaube Feitosa, renowned for his deadly ‘Brazilian’ or ‘question mark kick’, competing in a Japanese event that he decided to become a professional fighter himself.

Almeida fought in WGP, Superkombat Fighting Championship, and GLORY kickboxing before he decided to make the transition to MMA and made his debut in ‘Shooto Brasil’ in 2016, but took a break from the sport till he decided to return in 2021.

But he then went back to kickboxing before eventually getting a shot at a UFC contract on the seventh season of the Dana White‘s Contender Series or DWCS in 2023. With a win over LFA middleweight champion, Lucas Fernando, Almeida punched his ticket to the UFC and had his debut at UFC Vegas 90 against Dylan Budka who he finished via a TKO stoppage in the second round and secured himself the ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus as well.

However, it’s his history with current UFC light-heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, that has caused more eyes to be drawn to ‘Cesinha’ as he holds a win over ‘Poatan’ and has also received an interesting challenge from his kickboxing rival!  

Almeida has received a ‘quest’ from ‘Poatan’

Cesar Almeida has a storied history with Alex Pereira, with a kickboxing record of 1-2 against him. The two have fought three intense battles, widely regarded as some of the best kickboxing matches in Brazil.

Their first encounter in 2013 was for the Brazilian national title, which Pereira won via decision. Almeida won the second match in a tournament final later that year. Their third fight in 2015 saw Pereira drop Almeida twice in the second round, but Almeida rallied in the later rounds, ultimately losing by decision.

Now, with both men in the UFC, Almeida has received an interesting proposition from Pereira whom he met backstage after his debut win at UFC Vegas 90. In an interview with Sherdog.com, Almeida revealed, “He told me he would accept a fourth match if I beat three guys in a row.”

But with the dangerous Roman Kopylov standing in his way at UFC 302, it remains to be seen if Almeida will be able to finish his story against ‘Poatan’ by completing the challenge laid out by his rival!