After the UFC cut heavyweight Jailton Almeida following a second uninspired loss, should we see this as a sign that patience for underperforming fighters is quickly running out in the world’s top MMA promotion? Also, did BKFC just deliver the best combat sports offering of the past weekend, and if so, what does that tell us?
All this and more in this weekend’s mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @BenFowlkesMMA on X or @Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
@GeorgeWilb77062: Was there any funky line movement reported leading up to Jailton Almeida’s final UFC fight? Oh, and has anyone ever pointed to the canvas floor, declaring before the world to stand their ground, then not throw a single offensive strike?
That was honestly one of the most frustrating heavyweight fights of the modern era. It was all the more frustrating because, when he actually wants to, it seems like Jailton Almeida can actually fight. It’s just that he doesn’t seem to want to anymore. Instead he wants to stand around and make faces like he’s so bored of all this, which in turn makes us pretty bored watching him.
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The UFC apparently agrees, because he’s already been cut from the roster. I hope people realize how drastic a move that is. For the longest time, the UFC policy seemed to be to hold onto heavyweights for as long as possible. An underperforming bantamweight might get cut right away, but heavyweights got to stick around and stink up the joint for years. Now, after two consecutive losses, the UFC goes and cuts a heavyweight who was still ranked in the top 10. (Almeida is actually still listed at No. 8 on the UFC website.) That’s wild!
You have to do really, really badly to get cut as a ranked heavyweight in today’s UFC. The division is so thin as it is. Tai Tuivasa has lost six in a row only just now fell out of the top 15. Cutting Almeida seems like a signal that the UFC is less patient than ever with guys who put on boring fights and lose anyway. Whether or not you believe that’s how talent should be evaluated, that’s now the reality. Fighters must adjust accordingly.
@ewillcock: Looks like BKFC had a good night of business. I really enjoyed watching the fights on YouTube for FREE.
Maybe it was the nostalgic main event, but i wondered if you have any thoughts on the card, and what’s next for the promotion?
I spent Saturday night flipping back and forth across three different sports broadcasts: UFC Fight Night on Paramont+, BKFC’s Knucklemania event on YouTube, and Olympics coverage on Peacock.
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Of those, BKFC definitely delivered the most entertainment and excitement with the least filler. (I get that Olympics broadcasts are aimed at a general audience, but come on, do I really have to watch a segment about some dude’s relationship with his grandmother before I can see him jump his snowboard off a big, icy ramp?) I think there’s absolutely a market for what BKFC is doing. I also think the big challenge is going to be figuring out how to consistently make money while playing to an audience that is essentially a niche within a niche.
Going live on YouTube at this point is smart, though. Too many fight promotions, while still scratching and clawing for market share, make the mistake of putting stuff behind a paywall in exchange for a relatively small and short-term cash infusion. BKFC needs to grow its audience. It needs to give people a chance to see what it’s doing and get excited about it. And there was a lot to get excited about at Saturday’s show.
@justlikelasagna: What does it say about the community of MMA fans (not all of them, just the vocal ones) that Tom Aspinall felt it necessary enough to show images of him getting eye surgery to prove that he really did f*** up his eye?
Some segment of MMA fans will never miss a chance to accuse an MMA fighter of being a coward. They must really enjoy it. They see this as a sport populated by people who are scared to fight and looking for any way to avoid it. They never seem to ask themselves why such people would seek out professional fighting as a vocation. They just adopt this as their viewpoint and then view everything through that lens.
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I think it’s because that’s the thing that would make the most sense to them. Most people would be scared to get in a cage and fight a highly trained opponent. Most people should be. It’s a scary thing. But simply because they might be inclined to fake an injury in order to avoid it, it doesn’t mean everyone else would. Some people really are built different. And anyone who becomes UFC heavyweight champion is probably one of those people.
But honestly, is it really so hard to believe Tom Aspinall’s eyes were messed up? We all saw Ciryl Gane go knuckle-deep into both eyes. He went full Three Stooges on this man. Do people have a hard time imagining that this might do serious and lasting damage to one of the most delicate organs in the human body? Because I do not. If anything, I’m surprised we don’t see more ongoing eye issues from the many, many eye pokes in this sport.
@MMAJunkieGeorge: You think the UFC can benefit from an annual 8 man/woman grand prix to spice up divisions? Say Kayla Harrison beat Nunes and retired, let’s crown a new champ via GP.
Maybe that’ll shake things up in regards to who is next, interims, BMFs, doghouse (Arman). Two mil to the winner.
George, you know I love a tournament. Those old PRIDE Grand Prix events? That was some of the best MMA of the 2000s. But I also know how much the UFC hates tournaments, and not without reason. Remember when the flyweight division was brand new and the UFC did a modest four-man tournament to crown its inaugural champion? Even that managed to be a pain in the butt before it was over.
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But some of these divisions where there’s really not much going on as it is? There’s really no reason not to do a tournament. Sure, some alternate will probably swoop in and win it while fighting all of one time in the final, but so what? A tournament is the best and easiest way to take a crop of fighters we don’t really know or care about and turn them (or at least one of them) into something memorable.
@logsupacoowacky: What’s the over/under on how many of the eleven title holders will fight between now and the White House card?
There’s only one numbered UFC event between now and mid-June that’s still without a headliner. That’s UFC 327 in Miami on April 11, and so far the announced lineup for that one looks like a pretty good UFC Fight Night event — but nothing special. I think we’ll probably see one title fight added to that card somewhat soon.
But even then it would mean that the first half of 2026 would see a grand total of three UFC title fights (unless you include the BMF title, which I don’t). Of those three, one was an interim title fight and another was a rematch no one asked for that ended up being basically a rerun of the first fight. So in other words, UFC 327 is the one chance to have a true, fresh title fight prior to the White House event.
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That leaves an awful lot of UFC titles that could be defended on that White House card. Maybe the UFC really is planning to deliver the seven or eight title fights Donald Trump seems to be expecting. If so, that could be a tricky broadcast (if you have seven or eight fights that could either last 30 seconds or 30 minutes, it’s tough to plan for). It would probably also mean that the few months following that event would be as light on title fights as the months leading up to it.
@Screenplaya: Does the UFC provide supplements to fighters, as Derrick Lewis said? Do they contain banned substances, as Derrick Lewis might’ve intimated? And, since we have weight classes to ensure fighters fight people their size, why is weight-cutting allowed?
When UFC exec Jeff Novitzky pushed back on Derrick Lewis’ claim that the UFC gave him peptides, it was the peptides part he disputed — not the claim that the UFC might be providing fighters with supplements. That seems a little weird to me. How would you feel if you found out that the UFC was giving your opponent some good stuff to help his training but hadn’t offered any to you? Because I could see not loving that.
As for weight-cutting, how do you stop it? Stuff like hydration tests don’t really work, at least not unless you’re willing to scratch a bunch of your own fights when people inevitably fail. You could try to do what California has experimented with and just tell fighters which division they need to compete in, but that could get heavy-handed in a hurry. I agree that it’s actually insane to have fighters deplete themselves so drastically the day before the competition, all just to fight someone who’s basically the same size, but I also don’t know how to make them stop. So far, neither does anyone else.
@LCombatsports: In an environment where combat sports media jobs are extremely hard to come by, what would you recommend anyone wanting to increase interest and engagement in one’s work? Perhaps to be able to make some money in this field.
Don’t pin your hopes on someone offering you a job in MMA media. Don’t sit around waiting for an opening somewhere. There aren’t many, and with the combination of AI, declining ad revenue, and general uncertainty about how to take internet content and turn it into money, the environment will probably only get tougher.
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I think the best approach is creating your own thing, whether it’s a podcast or a Substack or a social media presence or (and I realize this sounds dreadfully old school) a website. Something you control, where you can put up the content that you like, and then build an audience from there. Maybe someone sees it and offers you a job. Maybe you gradually monetize it. But either way, you own it and no one can take it away from you with a round of sudden layoffs.
