UFC books headliner between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai

Dec 7, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Jairzinho Rozenstruik (blue gloves) after his win against Alistair Overeem (not pictured) during UFC Fight Night at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

The UFC has finalized a big time main event for June between top ten heavyweights. Combate was the first to report that the promotion was in the final stages of booking the headliner between “Bigi Boy” Jairzinho Rozenstruik (11-2) and Augusto Sakai (15-2-1).

The matchup will headline a UFC Fight Night on June 5th. Augusto Sakai will make the walk on June 5th as the ninth ranked heavyweight in the division. This will be his second straight UFC headliner and Sakai will be hoping for a better result in this main event.

In his last fight, Sakai was stopped by Alistair Overeem. This loss snapped a six-fight win streak for Sakai. Sakai made his UFC debut back in 2018 after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. After winning his first few matchups, the promotion gave him a big step up in competition.

While Sakai had bright spots, Overeem proved to be too much for him. Prior to his loss to Overeem, Sakai defeated the very tough Blagoy Ivanov back in May. This fight on June 5th is a massive opportunity for Sakai. If he’s able to knock off Bigi Boy, he will be back on the right track in the UFC‘s heavyweight division.

UFC Bounce Back for Bigi Boy

Entering 2020, Jairzinho Rozenstruik looked like he could challenge for the UFC heavyweight title. Bigi Boy was unbeaten and the promotion booked him against Francis Ngannou. The fight had a ton of heat and Ngannou went on to knock Rozenstruik out in the first 20 seconds.

After that fight, Rozenstruik picked up a win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC 252. After that win, the promotion booked Bigi Boy in a headliner against Ciryl Gane. An impressive performance from Rozenstruik in this matchup could have him right back in the title conversation.

However, Bigi Boy failed miserably in this spot. Gane pitched a shutout and Rozenstruik didn’t do anything throughout the entire fight. After entering 2020 unbeaten, Rozenstruik is now 1-2 in his last three. This UFC Fight Night headliner on June 5th is massive for both men. However, it’s clear that Rozenstruik has to prove to the world he’s still a top threat in the division.

Mentioned in this article:

More about: