Almeida ragdolls Lewis in UFC Sao Paulo main event

Surging heavyweight Jailton Almeida was dominant against Derrick Lewis, but he surprisingly needed all five rounds to secure the win.

One of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the division, Almeida suffocated Lewis en route to a unanimous decision win (50-44, 50-44, 50-45) in the UFC Sao Paulo main event Saturday night.

After improving to 6-0 in the promotion, the Brazilian called for a matchup against former interim champion Ciryl Gane. Almeida is ranked No. 9 at heavyweight and is on track to enter the title conversation with one or two more wins.

The 32-year-old relied on his grappling to cruise past Lewis, who stepped in on less than four weeks' notice after Curtis Blaydes fell out of the UFC Sao Paulo main event due to injury.

Almeida racked up the fourth-most control time in modern UFC history - and the most in a UFC bout since 2007 - spending 21:10 of the 25-minute fight on top of Lewis. Almeida also broke the divisional record, previously held by Blaydes.

Almeida converted six takedowns in 15 attempts. He edged Lewis 38-20 in significant strikes.

"Malhadinho" scored takedowns in roughly the opening minute of each round and often advanced to full mount without issue. At times, though, Almeida seemed content to lay on his opponent without landing much ground-and-pound. He attempted submissions throughout the contest, but Lewis' grappling defense held up.

This was Almeida's first decision win in the UFC. Four of his five previous victories were first-round finishes and the other was a second-round stoppage. Almeida is 3-0 this year, with a submission of Jairzinho Rozenstruik and a TKO of Shamil Abdurakhimov to go along with Saturday's win over Lewis.

Almeida moves to 20-2 as a pro. He hasn't lost a fight since 2018.

Lewis falls to 1-4 in his last five Octagon appearances. The former heavyweight title challenger was coming off a 33-second TKO win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima in July.