Jailton Almeida dominated Derrick Lewis over 25 minutes in the main event of UFC Fight Night 231 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Almeida, a native of Brazil, took the match by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 50-44 and the third at 50-45. He ran his record to 20-2 and is a perfect 6-0 in UFC bouts. Here is a recap of the fight and the reactions from the MMA community.

Almeida had little trouble disposing of Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 231. Almeida was in control from the start, using his superior grappling skills to take Lewis down and control him on the ground. Lewis was unable to mount any significant offense throughout the fight, and Almeida was able to cruise to a comfortable victory. Despite the dominant performance, many fans and analysts found Almeida’s performance somewhat of a letdown.

The MMA community had mixed reactions to Almeida’s win over Lewis. Some praised Almeida for his dominant performance, while others criticized him for not being more aggressive and finishing the fight. It remains to be seen what is next for heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida, so we take a look at what could potentially be next for him as he moves up the heavyweight rankings.

Curtis Blaydes

This seems like a no-brainer of the next matchup for Jailton Almeida. Almeida was originally scheduled to face off against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Sao Paulo this weekend but Blaydes had to withdraw due to injury and then Derrick Lewis stepped in on short notice. Blaydes is a high-level wrestler and grappler who would certainly test Almeida who just implemented his dominant grappling to its full extent against Lewis who had nothing for it.

With Blaydes, he would be able to defend the takedowns and even get some takedowns of his own and possibly make this fight a striking match which would've made this fight extremely interesting. If Almeida wants to prove to the UFC that should be on the shortlist for a title shot in the future, going through someone like Blaydes will certainly do that.

Ciryl Gane

After Almeida's dominant performance against Derrick Lewis, he called out former interim heavyweight champion and No. 1 ranked heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane. While that would be a gigantic step up from Lewis to Gane it would definitely be a fantastic matchup. We've seen Gane get grounded and submitted by the GOAT and heavyweight champion Jon Jones rather quickly which could bode well for Almeida but Gane could potentially show his improved grappling and takedown defense in a fight with Almeida.

What makes this fight a fantastic matchup is if Gane can utilize his speed and movement to keep this fight on his feet. He would be the fastest and most prolific striker that Almeida has had to deal with in his career which causes problems for Almeida as he attempts to get the takedown. This may not be the most likely matchup for Almeida's next fight but if Gane wants to prove that he is still one of the best fighters in the heavyweight division a win in this fight could certainly do that.

Serghei Spivac

This is the right step up in competition going against a surging prospect like himself in Serghei Spivac. Spivac is also a good grappler like Almeida and has the takedown defense to keep this fight on the feet where the fight would be interesting. Almeida has shown in previous fights that he can strike but his most recent performance against Lewis leads people to believe that he is a one-dimensional fighter which isn't the case at all.

Spivac is a tough opponent that's also looking for a big win to catapult him up the heavyweight rankings and a showdown with Jailton Almeida will certainly help with that. The intriguing part is that many believe that Almeida isn't as good as advertised and a win over someone as skilled as Spivac would have those doubters turn into believers.

It will be interesting to see what is next for the surging heavyweight contender Jailton Almeida. He is now 20-2 in his professional mixed martial arts career and has won all six of his fights inside the octagon. With how shallow the heavyweight division truly is, Almeida is only a few more fights away from a potential title shot in the near future. The sky is the limit for this bonafide future heavyweight title contender Jailton Almeida.