What do you think of Jailton Almeida?

[Brendan The Hybrid Schaub]

I like that he falls to his knees on td attempts with no set up and still out grapples 99% of the division

 

[Urluberluu]

If he can adapt his game to avoid getting hit by the big hitters he will be champ

 

[HerpDerp]

I'm very impressed by him, honestly.

I was a doubter/hater because he is naturally undersized and doesn't have a "real" wrestling background, and those wrestlers that lack a true background look great against non wrestlers but have a history of getting handled when they do face one with real credentials.

I think of Okami or Filho when they faced Sonnen, or someone like Ronnie Markes, or Vemola who both used physicality to dominate lesser opponents, but didn't have a true wrestling background and got shut down once the competition stepped up. Or Arona as another example.

Almeida is just about the only non wrestler I've seen that is basically a one dimensional grappler (GSP is an example but he was effective due to being so efficient at timing takedowns and setting up with strikes.... although he did outgrapple fucking Otto Olsen in PURE GRAPPLING...GSP is a freak but I digress) that is having success against real wrestlers. Although he lost to Blaydes, I was shocked at his early success, as I personally thought he was going to be completely shut down by the real wrestler who is also naturally larger.

Prime Cormier, Stipe, or Jones would be his ultimate kryptonite but they are retired or on the brink of retirement and Almeida is still young for a heavyweight. Aspinall has shown good takedowns but I certainly don't think we can just assume he can deal with defending against Almeida without seeing more evidence, and he has a loss on the ground (granted it was eons ago) and Gane would obviously be like a steak dinner for Almeida.

What a fantastic post with very fitting references to comparable fighters, couldn't agree more.

Almeida really feels to be as close to a prime Arona as we're ever going to get in the modern era of MMA, in that if he can just take his opponent down, he will be an incredibly challenging fight for absolutely anyone he could potentially face in his division.

Edit: Also, would add Marquardt vs Sonnen to your list! It also fits the description imo.

 

[SuperNerd]

He's been my favourite heavyweight for awhile