UFC Vegas 28: ‘Rozenstruik vs Sakai’ | 6th Round Post-Fight Show

Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, June 5th, ‘UFC Vegas 28: ROZENSTRUIK VS. SAKAI’ event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.

Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are here tonight – Saturday, June 5th., 2021, to breakdown the UFC VEGAS 28: ‘Rozenstruik vs. Sakai’ event, which was broadcast from the cozy confines of the APEX Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel and BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS…)

Returning to the down-sized APEX octagon for the main event, we had a Heavyweight brawl between the #6 ranked, Jairzinho ‘Bigi Boy’ Rozenstruik, with an impressive 11-2 record, five of those UFC bouts were finishes, including Alistair Overeem, having only lost to Francis N’Gannou and Ciryl Gane. He currently holds the record for fastest KO in the HW division against Allen Crowder at UFC on ESPN+ 12; and his opponent tonight being the former Bellator fighter and DWCS alum, #9 ranked, Augusto Sakai; who was coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem last September, but carrying five wins since his UFC debut, four of which were finishes, came at this bout with the belief that he would produce a “quick” finish tonight.

But what transpired between the two combatants was another beautiful first round knockout stoppage for ‘Bigi Boy’ at 4:59 of Round one, leaving just one second to spare! The Heavyweight heavy card actually wrapped up to be an exciting night of fights, with some notable decision victories and electrifying finishes…

In the co-main event, we had another Heavyweight contest featuring the former Titan FC and Golden Gloves fighter & basketball star, two-time POTN winner, our #8 ranked fighter in the division – Walt ‘Big Ticket’ Harris. Walt was coming off of two losses to Volkov and Overeem last year and planned to turn that streak around tonight. His opponent in this bout was Marcin ‘Tybur’ Tybura, ranked #11 in the division; the Polish BJJ black belt had an impressive 21-6 record, walking into the octagon on a threatening four-fight win streak over the likes of Greg Hardy, Ben Rothwell, Maxim Grishin and Sergey Spivak. Notably, his last loss was way back in 2019 to Augusto Sakai.

Regardless Harris’s plans to turn around his two-bout loss streak, he was ill-prepared for what would be the fifth win in a row and now two-straight stoppages for Tybura. After this swift and imposing first-round finish over Harris, Tybura will definitely be jumping into the single digits when the ranking updates come out for sure. Who is a good possible next fight for Marcin in the top ten of the division? Curtis Blaydes? Tell us in the comments.

Also on the card, Santiago ‘Argentine Dagger’ Ponzinibbio made an epic comeback with a thrilling win after a legendary scrap with Miguel ‘Caramel Thunder’ Baeza, putting an abrupt end to his ten-fight win streak. We also had a Women’s Flyweight clash when Montana De La Rosa went up against Ariane Lipski, in a tilt that was slotted for the featured Prelim after that Middleweight bout between Breese and Arroyo was cancelled last minute; De La Rosa dominated Lipski scoring takedowns, bringing on a strong top game and bringing some bloody elbows & punches for the win in the second round. Prior to that, Heavyweight Ilir Latifi upset Tanner Boser with a Split Decision win tonight, turning around his three-fight losing streak and garnering him his first victory in the Heavyweight division.

These bouts were preceded by another women’s Flyweight prelim bout, showcasing up-and-comers ‘The Beast’ Manon Fiorot, who devastated fill-in fighter, Tabatha ‘Baby Shark’ Ricci’s UFC debut with a salvo of strikes – finishing her off with a second round finish standing TKO. All in all, we had a decent undercard with both Salikhov vs, Tybura and Patrick vs. Jones being two of the bouts that are well worth discussing.

This week the guys’ picks heading into the event were…
(Eddie ran out of time to get his turned in on time, sorry folks!):
Zane: Rozenstruik
Zane: Harris
Zane: Staropoli
Zane: Ponzinibbio
Zane: Rodrigues
Zane: Breese

Zane: De La Rosa
Zane: Boser
Zane: Salikhov
Zane: Amirkhani
Zane: Jones
Zane: Picked Moroz when she was against Fiorot
Zane: Woodson
Zane: Leavitt

Overall, this now 13-bout card saw two exhilarating first round finishes (including our Main & Co-Main events), four impressive KO/TKO’s, and eight solid decisions – two split, with one No Contest stoppage on the card. Rounding things out, bonuses for putting forth POTN efforts went to Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Marcin Tybura; FOTN honors went to Ponzinibbio vs. Baeza. What a night of fights we have to share with you, join us to discuss all the action…

Here’s a look at the UFC VEGAS 28: ‘ROZENSTRUIK VS SAKAI’ RESULTS & UPDATED FIGHT RECORDS:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. JUNE 5

13. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-2) DEF. Augusto Sakai (15-3) – KO/TKO, G&P at of Rd 1

12. Marcin Tybura (22-6) DEF. Walt Harris (13-10) – KO/TKO, G&P at 4:06 of Rd 1

11. Roman Dolidze (9-1) DEF. Laureano Staropoli (9-4) – DEC, Unanimous

10. Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-4) DEF. Miguel Baeza (10-1) – DEC, Unanimous

9. Gregory Rodrigues (10-3) DEF. Duško Todorovi? (10-2) – DEC, Unanimous

ESPN+ PRELIMS
8. Montana De La Rosa (12-6) DEF. Ariane Lipski (13-7) – KO/TKO, G&P at 4:27 of Rd 2, Total 9:27

7. Ilir Latifi (15-8) DEF. Tanner Boser (19-8) – DEC, Unanimous

6. Muslim Salikhov (18-2) DEF. Francisco Trinaldo (26-8) – DEC, Unanimous

5. Kamuela Kirk (12-4) DEF. Makwan Amirkhani (16-6) – DEC, Unanimous

4. Alan Patrick (15-3) vs. Mason Jones (10-1) – NO CONTEST, Accidental Eye Poke at 2:14 of Rd 2, Total 7:14

3. Manon Fiorot (7-1) DEF. Tabatha Ricci (5-1) – KO/TKO, Punches (Standing TKO) at 3:00 of Rd 2, Total 8:00

2. Sean Woodson (8-1) DEF. Youssef Zalal (10-5) – DEC, SPLIT

1. Claudio Puelles (10-2) DEF. Jordan Leavitt (8-1) – DEC, Unanimous

Be sure to follow Zane – @TheZaneSimon & Eddie – @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings. Bloody Elbow Presents is a mixed martial arts podcast network presented to you by Bloody Elbow:

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