Jairzinho Rozenstruik doubts referee Herb Dean’s stoppage of his UFC Vegas 56 fight with Alexander Volkov.
Top ten UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik suffered his second straight loss on Saturday at UFC Vegas 56. “Bigi Boy” was defeated via first-round TKO by Alexander Volkov, but for many who saw it, the stoppage could be a bit early.
Early stoppage?
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 4, 2022
Having some time to get his bearings straight and gather his thoughts, Rozenstruik himself released a post-fight statement via Twitter. Unsurprisingly, he too does not agree with referee Herb Dean’s stoppage.
(1/2) Hi everyone. I’m kinda confused on how the fight went and I’m disappointed that it was stopped. It definitly was a troubling situation, but I was far from giving up the fight. Did someone lay flat on the ground with his eyes shut? That’s what we call a knockout. #UFCVegas56
— Jairzinho ‘BIGI BOY’ Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) June 5, 2022
(2/2) Alexander and I basically just started exchanging some heavy strikes. The stuff you ‘all wanted to see! Big up to @AlexDragoVolkov for taking the fight. I’ve no noteable damage and I like to fight soon. #UFCVegas56
— Jairzinho ‘BIGI BOY’ Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) June 5, 2022
For a bit of context, Rozenstruik was stopped on his feet after wobbling from a barrage of punches from Volkov around the halfway point of round one. He immediately contested the stoppage after the bout was waved off, but many could also argue that he was, indeed, out of it, and Dean did stop it on time to save him from further damage.
damn Rozenstruik is a brave man for thinking he could keep the pace with Volkov :))) rip Bozo pic.twitter.com/9vh3ZAyfhx
— Shahbazyan enjoyer (@lszabolcs999) June 4, 2022
After UFC Vegas 56, Rozenstruik now drops to a record of 12-4. Volkov, meanwhile, improves his win-loss slate to 35-10.