With an eye on the belt, Jailton Malhadinho names favorite to fight for the interim heavyweight title

Jailton Malhadinho after victory in the UFC. (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

As a legitimate member of the top-10 heavyweight division (up to 120,2kg), Jailton Malhadinho has its eyes wide open to the elite of the category. On the 'media day' of UFC Sao Paulo, which takes place next Saturday (04), the fighter from Bahia gave his opinion on the dispute for the interim belt between Tom aspinall e Sergei Pavlovich, which will be held next week at UFC 295.

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“The injury to Jon Jones increases opportunities, and now we will have Tom aspinall x Sergei Pavlovich (for the interim belt). As far as who I see as the favorite, I think Tom aspinall I didn't have the mentality that I was going to fight for the belt. In fact, after his fight, he said he wanted Cyryl Gane”, said Malhadinho.

the protagonist of UFC Sao Paulo justified the favoritism pointed out to Pavlovich due to the mental factor of the Russian already being in camp, preparing to be the reserve of Jon Jones x Stipe Miocic.

“Meanwhile, Pavlovich is a guy who had his mind focused on fighting for the belt and he was preparing as a reserve and was doing a full training camp. I think the favorite is Pavlovich. He's the guy with a full training camp and Aspinall was just training to train. He wasn't mentally ready for a title fight. He wasn’t thinking about the title”, concluded the Bahian.

Exactly one week after Malhadinho faced Derrick Lewis No. UFC Sao Paulo, Pavlovich and Aspinall will take to the octagon at Madison Square Garden, in New York, to decide the new interim heavyweight champion. The winner of the clash must wait for the outcome of Jon Jones x Stipe Miocic which should face each other in the second half of 2024.

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