Jairzinho Rozenstruik expected more from Ciryl Gane when he stepped inside the Octagon against Jon Jones last month.
‘Bigi Boy’ will be back in action and looking to build off the momentum of his 23-second knockout against Chris Daukaus at UFC 282 in December. Returning to the Octagon, Rozenstruik will headline a Fight Night card opposite streaking heavyweight standout Jailton Almeida on May 13.
Before returning to the cage, Rozenstruik spoke with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive to discuss his thoughts on Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut last month. ‘Bones’ returned after a three-year-long layoff and made quick work of the division’s top contender, Ciryl Gane, to capture the vacant UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 285.
“I expected something more. That was really fast and crazy,” Rozenstruik said. “I thought there would be more exchanges in the fight, especially with Ciryl. Cirly is so athletic and Jon Jones made it look easy. Like it was nothing. That says a lot about [Jones].”
Jairzinho Rozenstruik absolutely blitzed Chris Daukaus 😱 #UFC282
(via @espnmma) pic.twitter.com/KsWSuTBzte
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 11, 2022
Jairzinho Rozenstruik Believes Jon Jones Will Defeat Stipe Miocic
With Jon Jones slated to scrap with the general consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic sometime this year, Lynch asked Rozenstruik how he sees that potential title tilt playing out.
“It’ll definitely be a different kind of fight than the fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane, but I think Jon Jones will win that one as well.”
Jairzinho Rozenstruik has gone toe-to-toe with some of the biggest names in UFC heavyweight history including former champions Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos, and Francis Ngannou. Should he score a decisive win over Jailton Almeida, as he did against Chris Daukaus in his last appearance, ‘Bigi Boy’ believes it will put him firmly back into heavyweight title contention.
“It’s definitely going to put me back,” Rozenstruik said. “I’ve changed a lot of things in training. I definitely think I’m going to win this one.”
Prior to making quick work of Chris Daukaus last year, Rozenstruik suffered back-to-back losses against top contenders Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov.
