Las Vegas, NV — “Bigi Boi” got back in the win column in a big way at UFC 252.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik, just months removed from a disappointing loss to Francis Ngannou, bounced back in style Saturday with a knockout of former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.
The explosive finish was just what the doctor ordered. “This is what we were looking for, me and my team,” Rozenstruik (11-1) told reporters at the UFC 252 post-fight press conference.
While he accepted defeat in his last fight, Rozenstruik made a point to grow from it. “If you lost, or something happened, you’ve got to accept it,” he said. “I had on my mind, what I want to do, how I want to be. I was sure, I know I was going to knock somebody out. In this case it was JDS, but it was business.”
Dos Santos, added Rozenstruik, proved what a great champion he was just by taking the fight, at a time where so many opponents tend to turn tough fights down.
There were no surprises in the cage for the heavyweight from Suriname. “Junior was exactly the way I thought he was going to be. He moved a lot, he moved like a lightweight,” he stated. Which necessitated some patience, with the end not coming until more than halfway through the second round.
Prior to the Ngannou loss, Rozenstruik had been undefeated, and on the brink of contendership. But as scary a thought as it might be, Rozenstruik believes he’s still growing as a fighter.
“I’m developing for sure. In the division, I think now that the championship fight has happened, Francis [Ngannou] is the next guy. In the meantime, I’m going to be right around the corner, winning fights.”
With two knockout wins over former UFC heavyweight champions (Dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski), the idea that Rozenstruik is still refining his skills is a terrifying concept. Especially for the rest of the weight class.
As for the main event at UFC 252, “both of those guys deserve to be the greatest heavyweight of all time. Stipe [Miocci] and [Daniel] Cormier,” Rozenstruik opined.
Watch the full UFC 252 post-fight press conference with Jairzinho Rozenstruik above.
