“People around us were judging the decisions, saying how it was not the right path because the math didn’t add up. At that point, I literally quit, but the friends I have around me up to this day, my manager, they kept me composed, got my head in the right place, and we put in the work, got to where we are now.
“You can’t give up,” he added. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel if you really believe in it and you’re willing to do the hard work. Here I am, on the road to maybe a title shot eventually. Who’d have known? I could have stopped at that time and none of this would have happened.”
Instead of walking away, Almeida persevered and eventually put together an eight-fight winning streak that earned him an invitation to compete on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Almeida
Paired off with undefeated Russian Nasrudin Nasrudinov, the slight underdog dominated from the outset, collecting a second-round submission win and ticket to the UFC roster. After debuting with a win over Danilo Marques at light heavyweight, the well-built Brazilian ventured to the heavyweight ranks, where victories over Parker Porter, Anton Turkalj, and Shamil Adburakhimov followed.
“I think that I perform better at heavyweight,” he said when asked about the decision to change weight classes. “It was a little bit about opportunity, but not having to cut weight, not having to focus on that side of things and just focus on my craft, on my performance, makes a lot of difference.