Responsible for surprising the MMA community on Thursday morning (15), Jailton Malhadinho asked and dared to send a sincere message to the light heavyweight champion (up to 93kg.) Magomed Ankalayev. Willing to drop down a category to face the Russian, the representative of Galpão da Luta reinforced his interest in facing the last executioner of Alex Poatán.
In an exclusive interview to SUPER FIGHTS, Malhadinho explained what led him to challenge Ankalaev, ruled out any intention of getting in Poatan's way in the category and pointed out ideal names that would please him in the up to 93kg division.
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“I want to fight and so far the UFC hasn’t offered me anything yet. With all due respect to the 93kg champion, Ankalaev, he made a post that he’s looking for someone to fight and I was a guy who fought at 93 and I’m willing to drop down a weight class to fight him.”
M. Ankalaev in victory over Alex Poatán No. UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @ankalaev_magomed
Weight loss process
Gaining mass and in the process of growth since moving to heavyweight, Malhadinho ruled out any difficulty in dropping down to his old category and cited the advantage gained since 2022.
“I don’t think it’s to the point where I’m suffering like I used to (to cut weight). Especially because I have a certain percentage of body fat and when I was going to fight I lost a lot of muscle, I was very thin, so my body fat percentage went up a little bit and then I only lose fat to get back to the shape I had before.”
Next Steps
While waiting for his next fight to be made official, the Bahian fighter is willing to float between categories and grab the first opportunity that comes his way. Whether it's against Ankalaev or Alexander Volkov in the heavyweight division.
“We are willing to do everything because we want to fight. I fought in January, and it’s been four months since I fought. We are waiting, I will be training, focused, and if Ankalaev accepts the fight or Volkov wants to fight now, I will be prepared. I want to fight, whether at 93kg against Ankalaev, who is looking for someone, and I am willing to fight him, to make the sacrifice of cutting weight and waiting for Volkov. Whoever wins will go to the belt fight.”
J. Malhadinho (left) hopes to fight A. Volkov soon. Photo: Reproduction/Montage SUPER LUTAS
Is Poatan a hindrance?
Next to Alex Poatán, Malhadinho reinforced that he has no interest in measuring forces against his compatriot.
“In fact, everyone knows that I like Poatan, a guy from Brazil, a good guy, I know him personally, he is a guy who has all my respect. If I were to fight (against Poatan) I would give up the belt to be able to fight against him.” Tom aspinall and be champion of two categories like he was. I would leave the belt for him to fight for in the future, but I wouldn't fight against Poatan”,
Fight against Ankalaev
In his first statement about the fight against Ankalaev, Malhadinho stated that he would not seek a grappling fight against the Russian. When asked about the reason for his statement, the fighter stated that he would stand up against the light heavyweight champion.
“Thank God I’m really honing my striking skills. You saw it in my last fight. I’m really honing my boxing skills. I’m improving more and more. It’s going to be a really cool fight. He’s a guy who strikes very well. In terms of heavy hands, mine is heavier than his, and when we connect and the fight starts, we’re going to fight and it’s going to be a real exchange, because I’m not going to take him down, no, I really won’t. It’s going to be with the hands. Because, first of all, the exchange is going to be honest and I have the power to defend the takedown. When Poatan started to press, he went for Poatan’s legs to take him down, and he gets tired in the rounds. He’s not the kind of guy who’s used to fighting five rounds. When he got tired, he went for Poatan’s legs.”
Alex Poatán was defeated by Magomed Ankalayev No. UFC 313 (Photo: Instagram)
Opponents that interest you
In a scenario where he doesn't need to share the same category with Poatan, Malhadinho pointed out names that would interest him in the 93kg category.
“I think (Jan) Blachowicz (is interesting), it’s a good fight for us. Jamahal hill It could also be, he's a guy who's there, a guy who sells the fight a lot, even though he's in a bad phase, it's even good for us. He's already fought for the belt twice, it's good", he concluded.
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