Jailton Almeida and Rizvan Kuniev meet on the UFC Fight Night 266 main card Saturday at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
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Last event’s results: 3-2
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UFC main cards, 2026: 6-4
Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev UFC Fight Night 266 preview
Almeida (22-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) ended up on the wrong side of a controversial split decision against Alexander Volkov in October. Prior to that setback, Almeida notched back-to-back first-round finishes of Alexandr Romanov and Serghei Spivac. The latter earned his fourth UFC bonus.
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Kuniev (13-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) won his entry into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2024, and was thrown into the deep end against Curtis Blaydes in his debut in June. Although Kuniev didn’t win, he took the former interim title challenger to a split decision.
Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev UFC Fight Night 266 expert pick, prediction
Filling out the main card is a heavyweight showdown between Jailton Almeida and Rizvan Kuniev.
Affectionately referred to as “The Jail Man” on the internet, Almeida is a fighter who loves to both get behind and ground his opposition, which, in turn, allows the big Brazilian to go to pound town.
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The potential problem, however, is that Almeida has lacked the urgency to finish from on top in recent outings.
Should Almeida fail to finish off his Russian counterpart early, then “Malhadinho” may be leaving a back door open for Kuniev to get back in the battle. For that reason, it’s hard to be confident in any outcome here.
I’ll semi-rulactantly take Almeida to have his way with Kuniev on the mat for a submission win by the beginning of Round 2.
Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev UFC Fight Night 266 odds
The oddsmakers and the public favor the Brazilian fighter, listing Almeida -158 and Kuniev +128 via FanDuel.
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Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev UFC Fight Night 266 start time, how to watch
Almeida and Kuniev are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on Paramount+.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 113: Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev prediction, time
