Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Jairzinho Rozenstruik (born 17 March 1988) is a Surinamese mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, who currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He currently holds the record for second fastest knockout in the heavyweight division against Allen Crowder at . In kickboxing, he is a former WLF Super Heavyweight Tournament Champion and a Superkombat World Grand Prix I 2013 Runner-Up. As of August 1, 2022, he is #9 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.
Background.
Rozenstruik was born and raised in Paramaribo. His parents were football fans and named him after the Brazilian star Jairzinho. In February 2020, the original Jairzinho reacted to highlights of his namesake's knockouts. Rozenstruik played football and basketball before starting to train kickboxing at the age of seventeen in a local gym. After he competed in kickboxing, he transitioned to mixed martial arts in 2012.
Martial arts career.
Kickboxing.
At the age of seventeen, Rozenstruik started training in a gym called Rens Project. There he started to take kickboxing lessons and soon he was discovered by Michael Babb, a coach from the Vos Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Trained by Babb, he came out for the House of Legends under the supervision of Ivan Hippolyte.
Rozenstruik started his combat sports career in kickboxing. He won a total of 76 matches with 64 of them by knockout out of 85 he competed in.
Mixed martial arts career.
Early career.
In May 2012, Rozenstruik won his debut MMA fight against Evgeny Boldyrev at DRAKA MMA: Governor's Cup 7 in Vladivostok, Russia.
In April 2017, after five years of focusing on his kickboxing career, Rozenstruik won an MMA match versus Engelbert Berbin during a regional promotion in Aruba.
In April 2018, Rozenstruik signed a multi-fight contract with the Rizin Fighting Federation.
In May 2018, Rozenstruik won his promotional debut versus Andrey Kovalev at Rizin FF – Rizin 10 by split decision.
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Rozenstruik made his UFC debut on February 2, 2019 against Júnior Albini, replacing injured Dmitry Sosnovskiy, at . He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
Rozenstruik faced Allen Crowder on June 22, 2019 at . He won the fight via knockout in round one. This fight earned him the "Performance of the Night" award.
Rozenstruik faced Andrei Arlovski on November 2, 2019 at UFC 244. He won the fight via knockout in round one.
Rozenstruik faced Alistair Overeem, replacing Walt Harris due to the ongoing search for his missing step-daughter, on December 7, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 7. He won the fight via knockout in round five.
Rozenstruik was scheduled to face Francis Ngannou on March 28, 2020 at . However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced the event has been postponed. The pair were rescheduled to meet on April 18, 2020 at UFC 249. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that the event was once again postponed and the bout eventually took place on May 9, 2020. Rozenstruik lost the fight via knockout just 20 seconds into the first round.
Rozenstruik faced Junior dos Santos on August 15, 2020 at UFC 252. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.
Rozenstruik faced Ciryl Gane on February 27, 2021 at . He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Rozenstruik faced Augusto Sakai on June 5, 2021 at . He won the fight via knockout in the closing seconds of the first round. This win earned him the "Performance of the Night "award.
Rozenstruik faced Curtis Blaydes on September 25, 2021 at UFC 266. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Rozenstruik was scheduled to face Marcin Tybura on February 26, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 202. However, in mid January it was announced the bout was moved to UFC 273 on April 9, 2022. However, the bout was pulled from the card after Tybura withdrew due to an undisclosed illness.
Rozenstruik faced Alexander Volkov on June 4, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 207. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.
Rozenstruik was scheduled to face Chris Daukaus on October 1, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 211. However, for unknown reasons, the bout was moved to UFC 282 on December 10, 2022. Rozenstruik won the fight via technical knockout just twenty three seconds into the first round. This win earned him the "Performance of the Night" award.
Rozenstruik is scheduled to faced Jailton Almeida on May 13, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 224.
Personal life.
Rozenstruik has two daughters.
Legal issues.
In August 2014, Rozenstruik was arrested and detained by the Dutch police on suspicion of smuggling drugs along with seven other Surinamese in the Netherlands. The group claimed they were attending a kickboxing event. After 14 days of detention, Rozenstruik was released as the authorities found 7 members of the group had swallowed balls of drugs but not Rozenstruik, and he was the only kickboxer in the group.
Kickboxing record (incomplete).
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