A pair of heavy hitters with nearly 30 knockout victories between them faced off at UFC Saudi Arabia, with Sergi Pavlovich looking to snap a two-fight skid against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Suriname’s “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik had picked up wins against Shamil Gaziev and Tai Tuivasa in 2024, while Russia’s Pavlovich had lost an interim title fight against Tom Aspinall, following by a pairing opposite Alexander Volkov.
It was Rozenstruik landing the first solid connection share of a cracking leg kick. Both men showed considerable respect for the other’s power, with lots of feints early on. The lack of action saw the crowd grow restless, but a couple of big swings, despite missing, drew an audible gasp from the masses. The pair then traded leg kicks, inside and inside, and Pavlovich landed upstairs after that, causing Rozenstruik to back off.
In the next exchange, Rozenstruik slipped off a counter, falling to his back and allowing Pavlovich to get on top. In a close, low-action frame, the control time and ground n’ pound might have been enough to secure the round for the Russian.
Pavlovich and Rozenstruik continued to stand toe-to-toe to open round two, Pavlovich feinting, Rozenstruik showing decent head movement. The opening two minutes of the frame saw little thrown and less connect, but Pavlovich would land a glancing blow in a rare exchange. The crowd continued to voice their displeasure, leading ref Mark Smith to instruct the fighters to get busy. Moments later, Pavlovich knocked Rozenstruik down with a punch that saw him stumble back; as he had in the first, Sergei got on top, this time in half guard. Just over 90 seconds were still on the clock; Jair tied things up on the bottom, or at least tried to, not giving the Russian any space in which to work.
It’s never a good sign when the fans are still booing after two rounds; for Jairzinho Rozenstruik, things looked even worse, with his corner urging him to find a finish early in the third. “F*ck five minutes” was the message, whether their fighter could respond was the question.
Instead of finding a finish, however, Rozenstruik found himself on his back less than two minutes into the round. The hulking Sergei Pavlovich got into half-guard once again, while Jair appeared unable to explode out. Just about the furthest thing from a threat off his back, Rozenstruik was essentially just playing defense, and although he did get back to his feet late in the third, the outcome was a forgone conclusion by that point.
Official Result: Sergei Pavlovich def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
