Tomorrow night at UFC Vegas 20, the heavyweights will once again take the center stage. In the main event of the evening, we will see a clash of strikers as Jairzinho Rozenstruik (11-1) takes on the undefeated prospect, Ciryl Gane (7-0).
Both men will make the walk tomorrow ranked inside of the top seven of the UFC‘s heavyweight division. For Ciryl Gane, this fight marks a big step up in competition. Gane will make his fifth UFC appearance and so far it’s been flawless.
In his last fight, Gane was able to stop former champion, Junior Dos Santos. Prior to that, he’s had impressive victories over Raphael Pessoa, Don’Tale Mayes, and Tanner Boser. While known for his striking background, it’s been Gane’s overall MMA game that has impressed me so far.
That said, he has a very tall mountain to climb at UFC Vegas 20. Entering 2020, there was a lot of buzz behind “Bigi Boy” Jairzinho Rozenstruik. That buzz was completely warranted when you considered what Rozenstruik had done in the division.
Rozenstruik made his debut with the promotion back in 2019. During 2019. Rozenstruik had four knockout victories including a last second knockout over Alistair Overeem. For his efforts, the UFC gave him Francis Ngannou.
That is where things went off the tracks a bit. Rozenstruik was blitzed by Ngannou and got knocked out in 20 seconds for his first professional loss. However, he bounced back nicely at UFC 252 with a knockout win over Junior Dos Santos.
UFC Vegas 20 Prediction
I am both incredibly excited for as well as intrigued by this heavyweight matchup. Both men have professional striking backgrounds, but they use their striking in such different ways. Rozenstruik is very calculated and powerful when he strikes. Nothing seems incredibly urgent.
Gane is someone who moves like a man much lighter than he actually is. While he doesn’t have the power of Rozenstruik, Gane has great speed and has the ability to get in and out of range before the big shots land.
One thing I really like about Ciryl Gane is his ability to mix it up. We’ve seen him go for and land takedowns in the UFC. His first two wins with the promotion were by submission. His overall game seems much more advanced to me than Rozenstruik’s.
Again, Rozenstruik is going to have the power advantage. We’ve seen him behind in fights and score a late knockout before. However, I think that’s going to be his only way of winning this one. I’m buying into the Gane hype and I believe he gets it done tomorrow. It’ll either be a submission or decision at UFC Vegas 20.
Prediction: Ciryl Gane by decision