Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight contender Jailton
Almeida is coming into his own as a star.
Advertisement
A month before going into a headlining clash against Derrick
Lewis in Sao Paulo, Almeida was pleasantly surprised with a
visit from one of Brazil’s biggest superstars, Wagner
Moura. Moura is known for playing roles like Pablo Escobar in
Netflix’s “Narcos” and colonel Nascimento in “Elite Squad.” Moura,
47, is also a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
During a recent visit to his hometown of Salvador, Moura contacted
Almeida’s physical therapist regarding a training session with the
UFC star. While Almeida was in touch with Moura ahead of their
training session on Oct. 5, “Malhadinho” had no idea he was talking
to a superstar.
“He texted me saying his friend Wagner was a fan of mine and wanted
to train, so I was like, ‘Sure, tell him to stop by for our gi
session on Thursday,’” Almeida told
MMAFighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “He sent me Wagner
Moura’s number and I didn’t pay attention to the last name. He
texted me the day before to confirm and I’m like, ‘Sure, all
good.’”
“I’m putting the gi on in the gym and all of a sudden, my friend
Samuel looks over and says, ‘Hey, it’s Colonel Nascimento!’ I
thought he was joking with a friend of something, and then my coach
Yuri
Moura said, ‘Man, it’s Wagner
Moura!’ Holy f—-, man. I was texting Wagner
Moura on WhatsApp and thought it was just a regular person!
[Laughs.]”
“F—-, I was so happy. A movie star went there to watch me train.
That’s so gratifying. Never in a million years I thought that would
happen. Really, I never imagined all of this happening in my life,
all this hype in the UFC, but I always tell people that I remain
the same person and same character because it all goes away so
fast. We have to leave a legacy. We don’t know what tomorrow will
bring. To hear that from a movie icon, an exceptional actor, was
very special.”
The Brazilian went on to secure a dominant unanimous decision
victory against Derrick
Lewis in their main event showdown at UFC Fight Night 231 on
Saturday.