Thomas Almeida Ready to Return, Wasn't Ready for the Belt
Thomas Almeida Ready to Return, Wasn't Ready for the Belt
Highly touted Brazilian bantamweight prospect Thoma
It's a tumultious time to be Thomas Almeida.
After getting knocked out by Cody Garbrandt in May and receiving the first stain on his formerly unbeaten MMA record in the process, the bantamweight talent from Sao Paulo took a few months off to restructure his career before resuming his path towards the UFC title. Now set to face Albert Morales at UFC Fight Night 100 on Saturday, the Chute Boxe athlete admits that the recent defeat changed his outlook on his fighting future.
At 25 years of age and with 21 professional MMA wins on his record, Almeida acknowledged that although he was - and still is - very close to the UFC's 135-pound belt, it might not be his time to take over the division currently dominated by champion Dominick Cruz just yet.
"I knew I wasn't ready for the belt" Almeida told FloCombat via Ag. Fight. "I'm very young, I want to get [to the top] to stay there and I think it just wasn't my time yet. I've been working hard but I'm very realistic, I really think it's not my time. I don't want to go out there, fight for the title and then vanish. I want to stay."
Against Morales, in front of a hometown crowd, Almeida now gets the opportunity to put into practice all the changes he has made in his game since that heartbreaking Vegas night back in May.
After all, the first-round K.o. loss to Garbrandt in what was his first major fight in the UFC's Octagon showed certain flaws in his fighting style that could be capitalized on by future opponents. The slow path to the top is supposed to prevent that from happening.
"[The loss] affected me", Almeida admitted. "Now I'm more willing to fight, to improve, I want to avoid the mistakes that I've made in the past. I'm always trying to evolve - that's what I want. I always knew that the road to the belt would be hard. I'm living it in the moment, so I'm going to go out there, do my best and prove my worth."
With the responsibility of leading a new generation of Brazilian MMA fighters to the world stage lying mostly on his shoulders, Almeida guarantees that he recognizes that weight and doesn't intend to run away from the challenge. After tasting defeat for the first time, he wants to show a championship quality other than being able to knock folks out on Saturday night: how to get back up after getting knocked down.
"I'm not starting from scratch", Almeida said, "but I have to work hard and focus even more. I've been working hard to be the new reality [of Brazilian MMA] and not just the promise."
After getting knocked out by Cody Garbrandt in May and receiving the first stain on his formerly unbeaten MMA record in the process, the bantamweight talent from Sao Paulo took a few months off to restructure his career before resuming his path towards the UFC title. Now set to face Albert Morales at UFC Fight Night 100 on Saturday, the Chute Boxe athlete admits that the recent defeat changed his outlook on his fighting future.
At 25 years of age and with 21 professional MMA wins on his record, Almeida acknowledged that although he was - and still is - very close to the UFC's 135-pound belt, it might not be his time to take over the division currently dominated by champion Dominick Cruz just yet.
"I knew I wasn't ready for the belt" Almeida told FloCombat via Ag. Fight. "I'm very young, I want to get [to the top] to stay there and I think it just wasn't my time yet. I've been working hard but I'm very realistic, I really think it's not my time. I don't want to go out there, fight for the title and then vanish. I want to stay."
Against Morales, in front of a hometown crowd, Almeida now gets the opportunity to put into practice all the changes he has made in his game since that heartbreaking Vegas night back in May.
After all, the first-round K.o. loss to Garbrandt in what was his first major fight in the UFC's Octagon showed certain flaws in his fighting style that could be capitalized on by future opponents. The slow path to the top is supposed to prevent that from happening.
"[The loss] affected me", Almeida admitted. "Now I'm more willing to fight, to improve, I want to avoid the mistakes that I've made in the past. I'm always trying to evolve - that's what I want. I always knew that the road to the belt would be hard. I'm living it in the moment, so I'm going to go out there, do my best and prove my worth."
With the responsibility of leading a new generation of Brazilian MMA fighters to the world stage lying mostly on his shoulders, Almeida guarantees that he recognizes that weight and doesn't intend to run away from the challenge. After tasting defeat for the first time, he wants to show a championship quality other than being able to knock folks out on Saturday night: how to get back up after getting knocked down.
"I'm not starting from scratch", Almeida said, "but I have to work hard and focus even more. I've been working hard to be the new reality [of Brazilian MMA] and not just the promise."