UFC 220's Thomas Almeida knows he needs to snap losing skid with knockout

BOSTON – Four fights into his UFC career, bantamweight Thomas Almeida was the next big thing.

Then he ran into the next champ, and he was forced back to the drawing board.

“This is part of the process,” Almeida (22-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie in advance of his pay-per-view fight with Rob Font (14-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on Saturday at TD Garden in Boston. “You have to learn with losses. It’s part of the job. I’ve learned a lot, and now I’m ready to give my best.”

A knockout loss to now ex-champ Cody Garbrandt and decision setback to Jimmie Rivera puts Almeida at 1-2 in his past three fights.

It’s a tough position heading into UFC 220. But Almeida’s goal is to have fun and be himself – or in other words, get the knockout.

“This is a very important fight for me to get to the top of the division. I have to be aggressive and look for the knockout all the time. This is my style and how I fight. I’m going to do this on Saturday, for sure.”

Part of Almeida’s challenge is to stay true to himself and find a way to avoid unneccesary danger. He is wary of getting overzealous in exchanges, and yet he is committed to moving forward and finding offensive opportunities.

Font, a known striker, presumably will present him with targets. But he has to be smart enough to find them without getting countered in return. It’s a paradox, but Almeida doesn’t know any other way to proceed.

“I have to be aggressive, but I have to be smart,” he said. “Always look for the knockout, but don’t expose myself, because hard punches from high-level athletes,” Almeida said. “I have to be smart and use my footwork and head movement, and be the same. Just have fun out there.”

For more from Almeida, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 220, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.