The UFC‘s first APEX Fight Night in March now has it’s headliner and it’s a bout that already existed on the card. Marcel Dorff first reported last night that heavyweights Jairzinho Rozenstruik (13-5) and Shamil Gaziev (12-0) will headline the card on March 2nd.
Originally, the March 2nd date was supposed to be for the UFC’s debut in Saudi Arabia. However, original plans were scrapped and the Saudi Arabia card will happen in June. The promotion couldn’t align the type of fighters they wanted for that card, so the focus shifted.
With that, the card moved to the APEX and instead of booking a new main event, they are upgrading one of the current fights on the card. Jairzinho Rozenstruik will be getting his sixth UFC main event on March 2nd and he needs a big time performance.
Back in 2020, Rozenstruik called for a fight with Francis Ngannou. Bigi Boy was 10-0 at the time and the fight was being looked at as a potential title eliminator. He was unfortunately knocked out in 20 seconds. Starting with that fight, he’s just 3-5 in his last eight fights. In some fights like his knockout over Chris Daukaus, he looks like a world-beater.
However, all of his losses have been fairly one-sided where he’s either been finished or just failed to pull the trigger. UFC Vegas 87 is big for him.
UFC Vegas 87
Speaking of this being a big fight, this is going to be a big test for the undefeated heavyweight prospect from Dagestan. We all know the lineage that comes from Dagestan and Gaziev looks to be the next star from that region of the world. He made his professional debut in October 2020 and he’s already 12-0.
UFC fans first caught a glimpse of him on The Contender Series last September where he scored a first round submission win over another undefeated heavyweight prospect. Following that win, he got a shot at UFC 296 and scored a second round TKO over Martin Buday. In his 12 wins, only one has gone to a decision. This is a big test for him, but if he passes, he might be on a fast track to the top of the heavyweight division.