Tai Tuivasa will be fighting Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on August 17.
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Tuivasa confirmed the matchup during a cameo in Alex Pereira’s latest vlog on his YouTube channel. The Aussie slugger namedropped his next opponent during a conversation with Pereira’s coach Plinio Cruz.
“August,” Tuivasa replied to Cruz asking when he’d fight next. “Perth [UFC 305]… what’s his name? Rozenstruik. Good fight, no f***** wrestling. I’m sick of all the f****** wrestling.”
Tuivasa’s UFC career has had massive ups and downs. He began his run with a three-fight winning streak, followed by a three-fight losing streak. Tuivasa recouped with a five-fight winning streak, which saw him fight for the interim heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane. After losing to Gane, Tuivasa dropped three more fights – all by finish.
With his UFC career potentially on the line, it’s a must-win for Tuivasa in Perth. Though it’s true, Rozenstruik isn’t known for his wrestling, and fans can hope to see the two heavyweights square off and trade punches in the Octagon this August.
With an extensive history in kickboxing and Muay Thai, Rozenstruik started his UFC career undefeated and highly regarded. In 2020, he would be the victim of his hubris when he called out Francis Ngannou for a fight. Ngannou stormed Rozenstruik, knocking him out in 19 seconds.
Recovering from this, Rozenstruik secured a TKO over former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos before dropping a decision to Ciryl Gane. Rozenstruik picked up another win over Augusto Sakai, but Gane had exposed his weakness to fighters who don’t apply pressure. Curtis Blaydes exposed Rozenstruik even more when he revealed how poor his wrestling capabilities were.
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Two years after the Blaydes loss, Jailton Almeida reminded fans of this weakness when he took down and submitted Rozenstruik in the opening minutes of the first round. Fortunately for ‘Bigi Boy,’ Tuiavsa has only attempted two takedowns in his UFC career.
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