Jailton Almeida last competed at UFC 299 in March of this year, suffering a second round knockout loss to Curtis Blaydes.
Blaydes will now go onto fight Tom Aspinall for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title at UFC 304 and Almeida believes he fumbled his shot at the gold following the loss to Blaydes.
“I felt a bit surprised and sad,” Almeida told MMA Junkie. “I definitely felt this was my great opportunity to fight against Aspinall. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Once I learned it wasn’t going to be against me, I knew I missed my chance. But I also know God’s timing is perfect, and I will have my chance in the future.”
Almeida will be back in action at UFC 302 on June 1, where he faces a surging Alexandr Romanov.
Despite the setback this past March, Almeida knows a victory over Romanov puts him back into title contention.
“After the loss I feel strong, I feel happy, I feel confident,” Almeida said. “I’ve really taken the time to understand my faults. So I feel stronger than ever. Especially after the Curtis vs. Aspinall fight was announced, this is serving as an extra motivation for me because I want to fight Aspinall in the future, and I also would like to come back and fight with Curtis once again. I’m looking for revenge, and I know the first step is to have a victory on June 1.”