With Maxim Grishin out, Jailton Almeida moves up to heavyweight to fight Parker Porter at UFC Vegas 55

Jailton Almeida has a new opponent — in a different weight class — for his second UFC bout.

With Russian light heavyweight Maxim Grishin out of UFC Vegas 55 due to undisclosed reasons, Almeida has decided to move up to heavyweight and face Parker Porter on the same card on May 21.

Multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the change to MMA Fighting following a report from Combate.

Almeida (15-2) took on social media to say he’s inspired by UFC sensation Khamzat Chimaev in his decision to face a heavyweight next. “Malhadinho” tapped Nasrudin Nasrudinov at Dana White’s Contender Series and stopped Danilo Marques in his UFC debut earlier this year.

Porter (13-6), a former Bellator fighter, won three straight inside the octagon since 2020, earning decisions over Josh Parisian, Chase Sherman and Alan Baudot.

UFC Vegas 55 will take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas and feature former bantamweight champion Holly Holm versus Ketlen Vieira in the main event.

Mike Heck contributed to this report.