Jairzinho Rozenstruik will enter UFC Vegas 20 as nearly a 3-to-1 underdog, but he plans to exit with a victory en route to a higher ranking.
The main event of UFC Vegas 20 this Saturday will feature two heavy hitters slugging it out to determine who will draw closer to that ever-elusive heavyweight title shot. Both fighters are comfortably within the top 10, with Rozenstruik (#4) ranked three spots ahead of Ciryl Gane (#7). Despite Rozenstruik being above Gane in the rankings and having more fight experience, Gane will still enter the fight as a sizable favorite. Rozenstruik is already well aware of the odds, so now he is focused solely on defying them.
“He has attention, that’s why this fight makes more sense,” Rozenstruik said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He’s the favorite. Everyone thinks he has a good chance against me, and now it’s my turn to prove them wrong and go in there and put him down. Do what I do.
“It doesn’t bother me in any kind of way. It’s fighting and everybody has their favorite fighters. Maybe they see something in him they didn’t see in me. Right now, I’m ready to show them why I’m the favorite and why I deserve to be at the top. It wasn’t given to me. I earned it, and I’m ready to keep my place and move forward up in the rankings until I get a shot at the title.”
Heayvweight Tips The Scales To The Unpredictable
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68666673/1230069749.0.jpg)
There is no debating the fact that the heavyweight division is by far the most unpredictable division in the UFC. Proof of this can be found in the fact that the record for most successful title defenses in the division is a grand sum of three.
More recent proof could be found last weekend when 4-to-1 favorite Curtis Blaydes was put to sleep by “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis. Rozenstruik is a decorated striker with a proven skillset, but sometimes the odds can be a matter of 50/50 based on who draws first blood.
“We’re going to see who lands first,” Rozenstruik said. “It’s the heavyweight division. If you go and bang with someone, somebody is going to get caught. That’s what happened to me in the Francis fight. We’ll see what happens in this fight.”
Do you believe Ciryl Gane should be a -265 favorite over Jairzinho Rozenstruik?
