UFC 321 adding a potential title eliminator between Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida

With Jon Jones retired and Tom Aspinall being the new undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, the division is finally moving again. I’m expecting that we will hear about Aspinall’s next title defense very soon and today, we learned about a big time heavyweight matchup that’s being booked for October.

At UFC 321 on October 25th in Abu Dhabi, Alexander Volkov (38-11) will be taking on Jailton Almeida (22-3). MMA Fighting was the first to report the news. For Volkov, this is a massive fight for him as he looks to finally get a UFC title shot which I’m sure he believes he was robbed of in his last fight.

Volkov’s last fight came back in December against Ciryl Gane. Volkov had won four in a row leading up to that matchup and with Jones out of the picture, Volkov would likely be getting the next shot at Aspinall had he won. Instead, he was the victim of a really bad split decision and now it appears that Ciryl Gane will be Aspinall’s next challenger.

To get that elusive UFC title shot, Volkov is going to have to deal with Jailton Almeida. Almeida is 8-1 inside the octagon and he’s coming off two straight first round finishes. In March 2024, Almeida lost to Curtis Blaydes by TKO in a fight that he was well in control of. However, he’s bounced back incredibly well and if he’s able to beat Volkov in October, he’ll likely be next for the winner of Aspinall – Gane (Assuming that’s the fight that happens).