Jailton Almeida reveals plan to call out Ciryl Gane after he beats Derrick Lewis at UFC Sao Paulo

Jailton Almeida already has a name in mind should he beat Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo.

Almeida is set for his sixth UFC appearance and his second straight main event on Saturday as he fights at home in Brazil against ‘The Black Beast’. It’s a big fight for Almeida’s career as he knows Lewis is an extremely popular fighter, so beating him will do wonders for his career.

“Derrick Lewis has more than two million [Instagram] followers, he’s quite popular for the things he does, like taking off his shorts and all that. He’s fought for the belt twice, he’s known worldwide,” Almeida said to MMAFighting. “Blaydes could be a great fight for me, beating him would make people see me differently, but I want to climb the stairs step by step. Things happened so fast for me, I’m a top-10 in less than two years. I don’t think any heavyweight was able to do that. But this is going to be a good fight for everybody. It’s going to be funny.”

Against Derrick Lewis at UFC Sao Paulo, Jailton Almeida knows he has to be careful of ‘The Black Beast’s’ power, as well as his ability to play possum.

“MMA is unpredictable. There are fights he fakes he’s hurt, or what he did last time against [de Lima]. We have to stay alert. I don’t know how he’s coming this time. We’ll have to dance whichever music is playing, there’s no other way,” Almeida said. “When that cage closes we have to be smart all the time, watching his hands and trying to impose our game to win this fight.”

Should Almeida avoid Lewis’ power and get a stoppage win he’s after, he already has a name in mind for his callout. According to Almeida, he says with a win he plans on calling out the top ranked Ciryl Gane who is currently without an opponent.

“The UFC gave me the No. 5 heavyweight [Blaydes], and with faith in God, I’ll get past Derrick Lewis, I won’t ask for the No. 5 again,” Almeida said. “I’ll ask for the No. 4, No. 3. I think Ciryl Gane and I would be a good fight, a man that once had the interim belt.”

Currently, Tom Aspinall is set to fight Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title. Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will also fight once ‘Bones’ is healthy, so Jailton Almeida believes Ciryl Gane makes the most sense for him.

But, in order to get a fight against Gane, Almeida will need to first beat Lewis on Saturday night in Brazil.