UFC 252 is going to be headlined by the UFC heavyweight title fight between champion, Stipe Miocic (19-3), and former champion, Daniel Cormier (22-2), but another big-time heavyweight matchup was just added to the card. Multiple reports have confirmed that former heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos (21-7), will be meeting Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-1) on August 15th.
A must-win for Cigano
In 2019, Dos Santos was closing in on another UFC title shot after he had gone on a three-fight winning streak. He was finally looking like the guy that we remember that knocked out Cain Velasquez years ago. He had back-to-back knockouts over Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis to put him prime shape to get a title shot. Unfortunately for Cigano, he ran into Francis Ngannou. Ngannou put Dos Santos out in the first round. Following that loss, Dos Santos was stopped by Curtis Blaydes back at UFC Fight Night 166. Dos Santos does not have any easy challenge in front of him next, and he’s desperate for a victory.
Rozenstruik looks to get back on track
Rozenstruik entered 2020 as a heavyweight prospect that everyone was talking about. “Bigi Boy” had won his first four UFC fights all by knockout including a knockout of Alistair Overeem which produced one of the worst cuts I’ve ever seen. Rozenstruik was riding high until he ran into the same problem that Dos Santos ran into, Francis Ngannou. Rozenstruik called out Ngannou after his last victory, and that proved to be a mistake. Ngannou knocked out Rozenstruik in just 20 seconds back at UFC 249. Rozenstruik will look to right this ship at UFC 252 against the former champion, Dos Santos.
Battle of Heavyweights at UFC 252
UFC 252 is going to be all about the heavyweights it appears. I cannot wait to see the trilogy conclude between Cormier and Miocic, and now I’m pumped for this matchup. I think one of these two men are going to get a stoppage, but I’m not ready to make a prediction just yet. Dana White teased this afternoon that some crazy fights were getting booked, and my guess is that this card will get even deeper as we get closer to August 15th.