LAS VEGAS – Jairzinho Rozenstruik knows he’s not the next man in line for a heavyweight title shot, but promises he’ll be ‘right there, winning fights’
Rozenstruik (11-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) scored an impressive second-round TKO finish of former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos in their main card matchup, and said he was happy to bounce back into the win column after his knockout loss to Francis Ngannou last time out.
“I feel great. This is what I was looking for,” he told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage after his victory. “If you lose, or something happens, you’ve got to accept it. And one thing I know for sure, is when I stepped back in the octagon I had in my mind what I wanted to do, how I want to be, and I was sure, I knew I’m going to knock someone out. In this case it was JDS, but it’s business.”
Roenstruik said Dos Santos (21-8 MMA, 15-7 UFC) offered no surprises for him on fight night at the UFC Apex, but revealed his respect for his American Top Team colleague when they shared words after the fight.
“I think Junior was exactly the way I thought he was going to be,” he said. “He moves a lot, – he moves like a lightweight, so I was expecting that. I was just pushing the pace when I needed to push the pace, and I got him there in the second round.
“I just said ‘thank you’ and I appreciated that he took the fight. Sometimes they offer you a fight and you say no, (but) he accepted, so that makes him a great champion. He’s champion level. I’m an up and coming guy and fighting against him was really nice.”
Despite enhancing his already-impressive record with his finish of Dos Santos, Rozenstruik admitted he isn’t the finished article just yet, and conceded that his nemesis Francis Ngannou deserves to get the next shot at the title before he can potentially consider a shot of his own.
“I’m developing, for sure,” he said. “In the (heavyweight) division the champion(ship) fight has happened. Francis is the next guy, so in the meanwhile I’m going to be right there, right around the corner, winning fights.”
Jairzinho Rozenstruik still 'developing,' says Francis Ngannou deserves next title shot