Jairzinho Rozenstruik is expecting a chess match in his main event against Shamil Gaziev at UFC Vegas 87.
The two Heavyweights will meet at the UFC Apex this Saturday (March 2) at the top of an eleven bout fight card, with the victor looking to establish themselves closer to the very top of the Heavyweight division.
In only his second UFC contest, the unbeaten Gaziev finds himself in his first promotional main event. Rozenstruik believes this shows only the caliber of fighter the UFC believe Gaziev is and although understanding the size of the task at hand, remains unphased and is confident in securing the win. He said:
“First of all, I mean, the UFC selected a guy for a main event then you know, he’s a big deal. He has a perfect record. You guys give him his props, so you got to take him serious, 12-0, it's not that he's not doing nothing. So this weekend he's going to get to the test. And for me, it's like I want to win and and for him, he want to win. So it's going to be a big test for both of us. I want to win. So I'll go in there and get my hands raised after the fight. I don't know how he's going to deal with that.”
He added: “Definitely, he's going to try to take me down, but he has a decent hands so I know he can strike so this is a chess match.”
In contrast, ‘Bigi Boy’ finds himself in his sixth UFC Fight Night main event, which gives him confidence that the UFC know they can put him in big main event slots and he can live up to expectation.
“I definitely think they see that I'm the guy who can put there and can get the job done. So I'm happy they recognized that. So for me, the day is almost there for me to do my part.”
Saturday will mark the first time the 35-year-old will make the walk to the cage in eight months. He would have liked to return beforehand, but has used the time off wisely
“It's like a mixed feeling. I wanted some time off. I wanted to fight like earlier than this, and then it takes a little bit longer.
“And then I had a fight and then that fight got canceled because the guy got another opportunity and then this happened. So I have peace with that. I feel good. I got a long time to prepare myself, you know. So here we are.”
Feeling his ground game needed some work, Rozenstruik used his time away from the octagon wisely and looked to develop his all round game in the areas he felt he was lacking.
“In the beginning it feels like that, but like when you do it, after a while you're doing it, you're going to start embracing it. So I'm at that point I enjoy because I learn a lot of things. They know the tricks. So and when things work out, then you start adding more time to it.”
Watch the full media day interview, here:
