Jairzinho Rozenstruik will head to Washington, D.C. next month, where he’ll collide with Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC on ESPN 7.
On Saturday night, following his first-round knockout of Andrei Arlovski at UFC 244, heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik was asked about stepping in against Alistair Overeem. Overeem was scheduled to headline UFC Washington (UFC on ESPN 7) in December, but opponent Walt Harris had been forced off the card due to the disappearance of his stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard.
Rozenstruik readily agreed with the idea of facing Overeem, like Arlovski a legend in the sport. And thus the seed was sowed for the UFC newcomer, with only three fights in the promotion under his belt, to main event a card on ESPN.
It looks like he’ll get his wish. ESPN was first to report that Rozenstruik vs. Overeem is a done deal for the Washington card. While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement, the fight makes all the sense in the world. For one, Rozenstruik is on a similar career path to names like Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou before him. The Suriname native has been a wrecking ball in the UFC thus far, winning and finishing all three opponents to date.
Arlovski was just the latest victim. Prior to fighting the ex-champ at UFC 244, Rozenstruik took out Allen Crowder in just nine seconds, and Junior Albini in under a minute. A former RIZIN FF heavyweight, Rozenstruik is 9-0 thus far in his MMA career.
Of course, Alistair Overeem will have a lifetime’s worth of experience and then some over his new opponent. ‘The Reem’ is a veteran of over 60 fights in MMA alone, and has held gold in Dream, Strikeforce, and elsewhere. The Dutch kickboxer holds wins over Brock Lesnar, Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, Vitor Belfort, and a host of others. At 47-17 (1NC), he has nearly twice as many losses as Rozenstruik has fights.
UFC Washington (UFC on ESPN 7) takes place December 5, 2019 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
