It’s no secret that the UFC‘s heavyweight division desperately needs new and exciting contenders. In a couple of weeks, heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall will defend his title against Ciryl Gane. While that fight is incredibly exciting, there’s not a ton of clarity after that fight.
Jailton Almeida is a contender to watch, but he just got finished by Curtis Blaydes last year. Blaydes was demolished by Aspinall shortly after that. Alexander Volkov is a top contender, but Aspinall ran through him as well. If Aspinall retains his heavyweight title, the most exciting fight might be a matchup with eighth ranked Derrick Lewis and I’m not kidding.
The UFC’s heavyweight division is in a rough spot and you can bet, the promotion is constantly searching for guys who can come up through the ranks and create compelling matchups for the guys at the top of the division. They might’ve found a new exciting contender on Saturday night.
UFC Rio Produces New Heavyweight Threat
That new contender is Portugal’s Mario Pinto (11-0). Pinto earned a contract on The Contender Series last October and then he made his octagon debut back in March against Austen Lane. The two had a back-and-forth fight in the first round with Pinto briefly getting dropped by Lane.
However, Pinto showed off his power in the second round with a massive overhand right that put Lane to sleep. His second fight came this past Saturday at UFC Rio when he faced striker Jhonata Diaz (9-2).
Pinto was able to use his grappling to take Diaz down in this fight and when the fight was on the ground, Pinto landed brutal shots just busting up Diaz. In the second round, Pinto cut him open and delivered hellacious shots until the referee stopped the fight moving Pinto to 11-0 and 2-0 inside the octagon.
He’s still developing but you cannot deny the excitement behind Pinto. Usually when there’s a new shiny toy in the heavyweight division, they are fast-tracked because of the need for guys at the top of the heavyweight division. I honestly don’t want to see that with Pinto.
I want them to develop him into being a serious threat if that is the way this plays out. In terms of a next opponent, perhaps the UFC could explore a fight with him and 15th ranked Valter Walker.
Walker was supposed to fight Mohammad Usman on Saturday but the fight fell through last week due to an Usman injury. This would provide Pinto with a solid test and it could get him into the rankings with a win. Tallison Teixeira could also be someone to watch out for as he’s coming off a loss to Derrick Lewis and he’s ranked 14th.
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