The Prelim Breakout Star is a once per event article that helps fans get to know those who will be entertaining them from the undercard. The intention of the article is not to bring attention to the most talented fighter on the preliminary card, but rather one that the common fan may have overlooked or underestimated.
For the last few events, we’ve been hitting the usual notes; Contender’s Series alumni and popular underrated gyms like Fortis MMA. Today we look to a place that we’ve never touched upon; Suriname.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Nickname – BIGI BOY
Affiliation – Team BIGI BOY
From – Paramaribo, Suriname
Height – 6’2″
Weight – 265 lbs (Heavyweight)
Record – 6-0 (0-0 UFC)
What makes him impressive
Once again, the UFC has signed a high level kickboxer with a very small amount of MMA experience. While Rozenstruik has more experience than say Gohkan Saki did, he still has only put on the 5-ounce gloves six times. However, his striking experience is long, with 82 career kickboxing bouts under his belt and a 76-6 career record. He also has the power you’ve come to expect from a kickboxing heavyweight with 64 knockouts in kickboxing and five in MMA.
Why he has been overlooked
Apart from a bout in Rizin, Rozenstruik has fought in some real small level promotions. Twice he fought on the regional circuit in Aruba and twice for a company called Draka MMA in a small Russian arena. Although he probably gained more notoriety than that in his kickboxing career, the MMA world is not as high on him yet.
What makes this a good match-up
Junior Albini is the perfect matchup for Rozenstruik in his first UFC bout. Albini has a bit of a name behind him, but that largely comes from a quick knockout over Tim Johnson. Since then he has looked very beatable in losses to Andrei Arlovski and Aleksei Oleinik. On top of that, he has only ever attempted two takedowns in the UFC and was only successful on one of them. This seems to hint that he is willing to throw down, which would not be wise of him here.
Prelim Breakout Star Record: 163-68-1 (2 NC) (6 DNF)
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