Ricardo Almeida and T.J Grant to square off at UFC 124
The Ultimate Fighting Championships is giving two welterweights (170lb) a chance to get back in the cage again to help build an upcoming card in Montreal. American-born Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) whiz Ricardo
'Cachorrao' Almeida will be taking on T.J Grant.
The news broke Wednesday afternoon, and Almeida confirmed it using his Twitter account, although he did not name his opponent.
“Got the call from @UFC!! Time to put up the tents and set up camp,” he tweeted.
But even if he did not confirm it, Grant as an opponent makes perfect sense, as the Canadian would be fighting in his home country. The UFC 124 card is headlined by a welterweight title fight between Canadian
Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck. Grant also fought on the undercard of the last event in Montreal, which took place in May.
Almeida, a third degree black belt BJJ instructor and practitioner, should provide a stern test for Grant’s grappling acumen. The 33-year-old holds a record of 12-4 in his mixed martial arts career and is
4-2 in the UFC, with his only losses coming to eventual middleweight challenger Patrick Cote and former welterweight champion Matt Hughes. After three consecutive UFC victories, he fought Hughes in August, but after getting rocked badly by a punch he was choked
unconscious in the first round.
Grant, considerably younger at just 26, has more experience with a total record of 16-4. The Nova Scotian has gone 3-2 in the UFC, and possesses good submission and takedown defence, while also using his
Muay Thai to win stand-up exchanges. In Montreal in May, he lost a majority decision that many commentators felt should have been scored a draw (one out of the three judges did), but since came back recently with a win in September over Julio Paulino.
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