UFC Vegas 28: Jairzinho Rozenstruik feels he owes fans ‘crazy performance’ vs Augusto Sakai
- ‘This is not my style, not my way of fighting,’ says Suriname heavyweight of hesitant showing last time out against Ciryl Gane
- ‘I’m going to be aggressive. I have to stop that man,’ adds Rozenstruik ahead of Saturday’s headliner
Jairzinho Rozenstruik has redemption on his mind.
Suriname’s “Bigi Boy” (11-2) was unanimously swept on the judge’s scorecards by Ciryl Gane last time out in February’s UFC Vegas 20 headliner, his momentum for a title push halted again.
The 33-year-old heavyweight enters his third headlining spot against Augusto Sakai (15-2-1) on Saturday night at the UFC Apex. Although the Brazilian lacks the high-profile name like some of his previous opponents, Rozenstruik is not taking the match-up lightly.
“We are in the top 15, top 10,” he told SCMP MMA. “All of us are badass. Everybody is going there to do his best. I put the pressure on myself. I have something to get straight so I want to get the ‘W’. Doesn’t matter how.
“I’m going to be aggressive. Do all I can to win. I have to stop that man so that’s the only thing that counts for me. This [the Gane fight] is not my style, not my way of fighting.
“I have to erase it. You cannot erase it, like, literally. But put down a crazy performance, make people know ‘all right, now he’s there again and we can still believe in him’. That’s what I’m going for.”