Jairzinho Rozenstruik will look to halt the hot streak of Jailton Almeida when the pair meet in the heavyweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Spectrum Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina on the morning of Sunday 14 May 2023.
Rozenstruik (13-4) returned to winning form when he claimed a first-round knockout victory over Chris Daukaus at UFC 282 in December last year, thereby avoiding a hat-trick of defeats (following losses to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes in his two previous fights).
The 35-year-old ‘Bigi Boy’ has warned that he still harbours ambitions of challenging for the heavyweight championship, currently held by Jon Jones.
“I’ll say to the top five [in the rankings]: Don’t get too comfortable. I put a lot of work into what I do. After a few fights [not winning)], I’m back in the win column and I’m looking forward to more,” said the Surinamese fighter.
Almeida (18-2), meanwhile, has put together a 13-fight win streak in his career, coming through Dana White’s Contender Series 39 with a win over Nasrudin Nasrudinov, followed by victories over Danilo Marques, Parker Porter, Anton Turkalj and Shamil Abdurakhimov in the UFC ‘proper’.
The 31-year-old Brazilian originally called out Marcin Tybura, but is happy to be pitted against the higher-ranked Rozenstruik.
“We actually made a shot in the dark,” explained Almeida. “My manager, Leo Pateira, shot his shot and it landed better than what we expected. We got the ninth heavyweight in the rankings. I believe Tybura is number 10, if I’m not mistaken.
“So we’re one step closer and I see that the company is working with us. The UFC has been enjoying my fights. There’s not another heavyweight who is built like me, with my style. The UFC prioritizes that and they want to see me at the top.”
The rest of the main card features Anthony Smith v Johnny Walker in the light heavyweight division; a welterweight clash between Daniel Rodriguez and Ian Garry; Mackenzie Dern will face Angela Hill in a women’s strawweight match; and the card opener is a welterweight meeting of Alex Morono and Tim Means.
UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik v Almeida – Main card
- Main event: Heavyweight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik v Jailton Almeida
- Light heavyweight: Anthony Smith v Johnny Walker
- Welterweight: Daniel Rodriguez v Ian Garry
- Women’s strawweight: Mackenzie Dern v Angela Hill
- Welterweight: Alex Morono v Tim Means