Although he was repeatedly asked to call out his next opponent after UFC on ESPN 61, Serghei Spivac did not want to mention anyone by name. Jailton Almeida did it for him, though.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 61 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Spivac (17-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) made quick work of Marcin Tybura, submitting him in under two minutes to avenge a prior loss.
During his post-fight interview, Spivac left his next pairing up to the matchmakers. Entering the fight at No. 9 in the promotion’s heavyweight rankings, Spivac refused to call out anyone specifically but did mention he wanted someone ranked above him.
That’s when No. 7 Almeida (21-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) made it known he wanted to share the cage with Spivac next.
“Spivak, do you want someone above you in the rankings?” Almeida wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Im here!! #7 vs #8. I want to fight Bro! Happy you get the finish early, so, we can fight soon!”
Spivak, do you want someone above you in the rankings? Im here!! #7 vs #8 . I want to fight Bro! Happy you get the finish early, so, we can fight soon! @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite @ufc @bisping @Jon_Anik @dc_mma @felderpaul @laura_sanko
— Jailton Almeida “Malhadinho” (@Malhadinho_UFC) August 11, 2024
Speaking with reporters during a post-fight news conference, Spivac offered a short and simple reply to the callout.
“Let him train,” Spivac said.
Almeida is coming off a first-round submission victory as well. At UFC 302 in June, he quickly finished Alexandr Romanov with a rear-naked choke just 2:27 into their preliminary card bout.
Serghei Spivac responds to Jailton Almeida's callout after #UFCVegas95 with three simple words. pic.twitter.com/N5eQ5FnYog
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 11, 2024
Spivac and Almeida responded well in their last outings, bouncing back from losses to Ciryl Gane and Curtis Blaydes, respectively. The closely ranked fighters could find themselves sharing the cage with each other next.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.
