One of the MMA fighters in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil has been selected to participate in the fourth season of the show, but was asked to leave later on due to a serious medical condition.
Alexandre Almeida was removed from the lineup because his medical reports revealed that he had a brain aneurysm. Fortunately after nine months, Almeida is back in the cage fighting in the WSOF featherweight championship.
In a recent interview, Almeida recalled how he was asked to leave the show because of his condition. The former Jungle Fight 145-pound champ was about to fly to Las Vegas when he received a call from the UFC saying that NAC instructed the promotion company to remove him from the lineup of the show.
He admitted that he thought it was the end for him. Almedia, who has a record of 16-5 in the featherweight division, was scared that he would never be able to fight again. The former MMA champ said that he was about to finally hang his gloves, when he decided that it would be best to do undergo some more routine examinations
Further tests revealed that he never had a brain aneurysm. He was then cleared to fight and even got to seal a contract with World Series of Fighting. Later on, he went against Saul Almeida for his debut fight and emerged victorious. This win paved a way for him to get a chance to fight for the title against lightweight champion, Lance Palmer.
“That was really important for me because I thought my career was over, and I came back with a quick win over a dangerous opponent. I thought ‘that’s it, I’m done’. I was devastated when I got that call. I managed to reverse the situation and prove that I’m healthy. Now, it’s time to win my first world title at WSOF. I did other tests and everything was fine. I still don’t know what went wrong in the first exam. I didn’t go back to Rio to ask the clinic, I just did other tests that showed I was healthy. I’m fine. I fought again, won, and I’m 100 percent cleared to do what I love,” Almeida said.
Almeida also revealed that he is trying not think about what could’ve happened to him and his career if he pushed through with stint in the reality show.
“I don’t think too much about it. I live my life every day. It would have been good, of course, but I’m happy to be where I am today. God knows what’s best. I have to worry about what I have in front of me instead of thinking if it would have been better or worse there. I’m fine now, fighting for a world title. That’s what matters to me. I can’t imagine the future, I can just live the present,” he said.
The Brazilian MMA fighter is now holding a four straight wins recently, and he revealed that he is planning to win over Palmer this coming WSOF 26 and get the title.
“I usually win quickly. If you look at my record, it’s always a first-round finish. I only went to the third round six times in 22 fights. I always fight to win as fast as possible. I believe I have the advantage standing and on the ground. I don’t care if my opponent is good on the ground. I’ll do my game, and he will have to defend himself. We’ll see if he’s that good on the ground. I have more first-round submissions than he has of total wins in his record. We’ll see if he’s really good. I don’t like to make predictions, but I think it ends with a submission. A quick one, as usual. It’s up to him. My attacks depends on the prey. That’s how I work. When he thinks he’s safe, that’s when the anaconda will strangle him,” Almeida added.
