Jairzinho Rozenstruik has discussed possible showdowns with Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
Rozenstruik has been rising up the heavyweight ranks. While he suffered setbacks against Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, Rozenstruik is barely out of the top five UFC heavyweight rankings. He sits at the number six spot.
Rozenstruik will be meeting number four-ranked Curtis Blaydes on Sept. 25. The heavyweight slugfest will be featured on the main card of UFC 266.
Speaking to our own James Lynch, Rozenstruik said he isn’t worried about the renowned grappling of Blaydes.
“I’m gonna go in there and work it. That’s it. I’m gonna see where Curtis wanna go. He knows I’m a striker. I know he’s gonna try to strike with me. I know he wanna wrestle me. And I’ll be prepared for all of that. I’m not scared to wrestle. And yeah, for me, it’s awesome. And it’s gonna be with the fans again, and the whole picture is there, and the hype is there. So I’m really excited. Can’t wait.”
When asked if a victory gets him into title contention, Rozenstruik said the following.
“Correct. I wanna win this fight (and) get back into title contention in line. And yeah, if I need one more fight for the title, it’s fair for me. And I really want one more fight for this year after this one, so I’m gonna work on that.”
A win at UFC 266 could lead to big things for “Bigi Boy.” Among them could be collisions with former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and former UFC Heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic. Rozenstruick touched on those possible matchups.
“For me, I need to get my experience there. I need to fight more so I can push myself forward and see where I am. So if one of those guys are available, I’m there.”
Jones won’t be getting back inside the Octagon until 2022. As for Miocic, time will tell when he can return to action. One thing we do know is that the two won’t be short on potential opponents and Rozenstruik hopes to be on that list.
