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Expectations for Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev at UFC Vegas 87 last night (Sat., March 2, 2023) started in the basement.
In a vacuum, Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev wasn’t a horrible match up. Gaziev was marginally impressive in his UFC debut finish win over Martin Buday, while Rozenstruik has mostly struggled in recent fights and thus could use a step back. It’s not intriguing, but sure, it’s a fight that’s worth watching.
An extra two rounds though? Nobody wanted that. There was no need! The only pair of possibly good scenarios here involved the fight ending inside five minutes. Either Rozenstruik’s counter left hook ended the fight in a minute or Gaziev smashed the kickboxer with ground strikes before gassing — those were the only good options!
There was no chance of this fight improving after the opening five minutes. There was DEFINITELY no chance of this fight being good after 15! Gaziev is known to gas out, and every Rozenstruik fight that goes beyond the first is characterized by long periods of inactivity.
I’ll give some credit to ‘Bigi Boy’: he threw more this fight. 122 significant strikes in 20 minutes is pretty solid, particularly by his standard. Alas, Gaziev did live up to his fatigued reputation, which still caused the bout to drag. He was spent after the opening few minutes, and Rozenstruik pretty much just jabbed him up until referee Marc Goddard and the doctor teamed up to show him — and us — some mercy by calling the fight between rounds
Predictable.
In short, it was a predictably bad main event with zero consequence. Rozenstruik doesn’t move up the ladder. Gaziev returns to the “Prelims” from whence he came. The real issue here is that UFC keeps feeding its fans and ESPN+ terrible Heavyweight main events despite the consistently mediocre results.
With the exception of Jon Jones — probably the most decorated athlete in UFC history — Rozenstruik has scored the main event slot more than any other active UFC champion. Six times he’s been top of the card, and not one of those bouts has been all that much fun to watch. We don’t need to keep trying!
Combat sports have always promoted the biggest men the most, because that’s what appeals most to the casual fanbase. If we have to highlight the divisions 185-pounds and up, however, can we at least make sure they’re good match ups? Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev lowered the bar in this regard, taking an entirely unremarkable undercard fighter and pitting him against a ranked — but stationary and often dull — contender.
We have seen enough Jairzinho Rozenstruik main events. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of his win, I’ve seen several calls for Rozenstruik vs. Derrick Lewis, which somehow hasn’t happened yet. It’s a definite step up from last night’s main event, and would make a great three-round bout on a pay-per-view or co-main event in some non-Apex “Fight Night.”
Instead, it probably gets the five-round treatment, and we’ll all be crossing our fingers hoping for a stoppage inside two minutes.
For complete UFC Vegas 87: “Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev” results and play-by-play, click HERE.