Jailton Almeida made relatively quick work of another opponent and immediately turned his attention to a former interim champ.
Almeida (22-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) met Serghei Spivac in the lone heavyweight bout on the UFC 311 main card at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. Almeida was tested in the opening moments, but found a way to finish Spivac (17-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) by TKO at 4:53 of Round 1.
After the opening feel-out striking exchanges, it would surprisingly be Spivac who scored the first takedown of the fight. He patiently landed a few heavy punches from the top, but Almeida found an opportunity to hit a nice sweep and take full mount.
Spivac was able to scramble to escape the position, but the threat wasn’t over as Almeida took his back. Spivac then worked his way to his feet, but it wouldn’t last long.
Almeida lit him up on the feet with heavy, accurate punches. Seconds later, Spivac would cover up on the canvas as Almeida rained down punches until referee Jason Herzog saw enough.
SHORT NIGHT AT THE OFFICE FOR JAILTON ALMEIDA 😤 #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/So4jrBhcVA
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 19, 2025
During his post-fight interview, Almeida called out former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. Almeida kicked off his 2025 campaign with a strong win, and has his sights set on the top names in the division.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 311 results include:
- Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:53
- Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:31
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:04
- Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:33
- Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
