Jailton Almeida Eager for Tom Aspinall Fight, Open to Gane
Jailton Almeida’s February 2025 callout of Tom Aspinall and openness to facing Ciryl Gane never became either matchup. The heavyweight instead fought Alexander Volkov and Rizvan Kuniev, then continued his career outside that promotion. His latest bout was a loss to Evgeniy Goncharov at ACA 207 in September 2026.
What Almeida wanted in February 2025
At the time, Almeida was coming off a first-round finish of Serghei Spivac at the January 2025 event. In a contemporaneous MMA Junkie report, he said he wanted a fight with Aspinall, who then held the interim heavyweight title, while acknowledging that Gane could be the more attainable matchup. It was a call for a fight, not a booking or a title opportunity confirmed by the promotion.
The distinction mattered because the division’s title picture was unresolved: the undisputed belt and the interim belt were held by different fighters. Almeida had also spoken about wanting to face Gane before: ahead of that event, he told MMA Fighting he hoped to call Gane out after beating Spivac and wanted a bout in France. Almeida did beat Spivac by first-round technical knockout on Jan. 18, 2025, as the official event results record.
The matchups that followed
Almeida did not get either opponent next. After the undisputed championship changed hands and Aspinall was elevated to champion, as reported by MMA Fighting, Almeida publicly renewed his request for a title fight. The promotion instead booked him against Volkov for the October 25, 2025 card. Volkov won a three-round split decision, according to the official judges’ scorecards. On the same card, Aspinall’s title defense against Gane ended in a no contest after an accidental eye poke left Aspinall unable to continue, Reuters reported in its event account.
Almeida’s next appearance was a short-notice bout with Rizvan Kuniev on Feb. 7, 2026. The official scorecards show Kuniev won by unanimous decision. MMA Fighting reported five days later that Almeida had been released from his contract after consecutive losses to Volkov and Kuniev; the outlet described his record in the promotion as 8-3, with seven finishes.
Almeida’s latest chapter
Almeida then signed with Russia-based Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), a move MMA Fighting reported following his departure from the promotion. The ACA 207 event page listed him against former champion Evgeniy Goncharov in the main event on Sept. 12, 2026. Goncharov won by unanimous decision, according to the ACA’s official results. That result made three consecutive defeats for Almeida, a sharp turn from the run of finishes that had powered his rise into heavyweight title contention.
The 2025 callout now reads as a snapshot of a moment when Almeida was trying to break into the top of a crowded division. Aspinall and Gane eventually shared a title fight that ended as a no contest after an accidental eye poke; Almeida was not part of the bout. Instead, a scheduled contender fight with Volkov and a later short-notice meeting with Kuniev changed the direction of his career. Almeida’s preferred title route never produced a matchup with either man.
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Tags: MMA
