UFC Vegas 55: Parker Porter Looks To Add To His Win Streak Vs. Almeida

Las Vegas, NV – As unlikely as it may have seemed when he first came into the UFC, heavyweight Parker Porter comes into UFC Vegas 55 on a win streak. He looks to add to it when he faces Jailton Almeida at UFC Vegas 55 on Saturday night.

Porter steps in on a month’s notice when Almeida’s original opponent, Maxim Grishin, fell out of the fight. Almeida moves up from light heavyweight for this fight.

“My first thoughts were ‘Who?’. Not because, like ‘Who is that guy?’, it’s just because he’s not a heavyweight. So he wasn’t even on my radar at all. That was my first thought ‘Huh? Ok, sure, let’s get busy,” Porter told reporters on Wednesday.

Now that they’re officially matched up Porter has looked into his opponent.

“He’s a very grappling-heavy guy. He’s really strong in his grappling. He’s also accomplishes kick boxer so he’s pretty well-rounded, but most of his fights, his finishes, come by submission or ground and pound. We’re expecting him to come out with some heavy pressure looking for that takedown. Being the lighter guy stepping up to heavyweight, obviously we expect him to be a little quick,” Porter said.

Once again Porter is the underdog in this bout, but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

“It’s always interesting to me. I was the underdog in two out of my last three fights, and I won every single fight. Being a fighter and being in the game as long as I have I feel like I probably have an advantage on picking those odds better than the people that are setting these odds,” Porter said.

With Porter’s fight being on the prelims it was a bit of a surprise that he was put on the lineup for media day. UFC normally only brings in fighters from the main card.

“I think they think it’s going to be an entertaining fight. I think it’s that classic matchup of a grappler vs. a striker. I’ve proven my ability with my striking he’s proven his ability with his grappling. Being a heavyweight matchup everybody loves the heavyweights,” Porter said.

“I think it’s just something that people are really intrigued by.”

Watch the rest of Parker Porter’s media day scrum above. Porter takes on Jailton Almeida in the prelims of UFC Vegas 55 on Saturday May 21st in Las Vegas at the UFC APEX.