UFC Fight Night 189 results: Jairzinho Rozenstruik lands buzzer-beating first round knockout of Augusto Sakai

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UFC Fight Night 189 results: Jairzinho Rozenstruik lands buzzer-beating first round knockout of Augusto Sakai

Jairzinho Rozenstruik is back in the win column with another buzzer-beater.

The heavyweight knockout artist is back to his winning ways after defeating Augusto Sakai in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 190 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rozenstruik (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) put the finishing touches on Sakai (15-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at the last second in the first round.

The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 189 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.

Rozenstruik is not known for his high output early in fights, and that was no different on Saturday night. He has no problem waiting for the perfect opportunity to land a knockout blow while controlling the center of the cage.

After what was largely an uneventful first round with sporadic striking exchanges, Rozenstruik found the opening he was hoping for as Sakai attempted to circle away along the fence.

It was a crushing two-punch combination that caught Sakai on the exit, sending him to the canvas. Rozenstruik would enter to land a few more punches but the referee did not want to see any more action, despite the round-ending horn being just a second away.

Trading wins and losses in his last four outings, Rozenstruik got back on track Saturday evening. He also could have an affinity for landing last-second knockouts, as he did the same thing to Alistair Overeem in the final seconds of the fifth round at UFC on ESPN 7.

Tonight’s performance against Sakai was what Rozenstruik needed to re-establish himself in the division. The Suriname native now has six wins under the UFC banner, including wins in two of three main event slots.

Sakai has now lost two in a row for the first time in his career. He was originally scheduled to fight Shamil Abdurakhimov in May but was shifted to his second consecutive main event opportunity against a bigger name in Rozenstruik. Unfortunately for the Dana White’s Contender Series veteran, things did not go as planned on Saturday.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 189 results include:

 

UFC Fight Night 189 results: Jairzinho Rozenstruik lands buzzer-beating first round knockout of Augusto Sakai