The anticipation for last night’s (Saturday, March 2, 2023) UFC Vegas 87 Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gazzhiev began in the basement.
literally.
All in all, Rozenstrik vs. Gadzhiyev wasn’t a terrible match. Gadzhiev was slightly more impressive in his UFC debut finish win over Martin Budai, but Rozenstryk has struggled in most of his recent fights and could take a step back. It’s not an interesting fight, but it’s certainly a fight worth watching.
Two additional rounds? No one wanted that. There was no need! Probably the only pair of good scenarios here was one where the battle ended with him within 5 minutes. The only good options were for Rozenstryk to end the fight in an instant with a counter left hook, or for Gadzhiev to crush the kickboxer with a ground strike before he could hit the gas!
After the first five minutes, there was no hope for this fight to turn around. There was absolutely no way this fight would go well after 15. Gadzhiev is known for running out of gas, and all of Rozenstryk’s matches after the first have been marked by long periods of inactivity.
I would like to give credit to “Bigi Boy”. He threw more in this game. 122 significant strikes in 20 minutes is pretty solid, especially by his standards. Unfortunately, Gadzhiev lived up to his reputation of being tired, which prolonged the match. He was exhausted in the first few minutes and Rozenstruik was mostly just jabbing until referee Mark Goddard and the doctors worked together to show him and us mercy by stopping the fight between rounds.
Predictable.
In short, it was a predictably awful main event that had no impact whatsoever. Rozenstryk can’t climb the ladder. Gadzhiev returns to his hometown – “Qualifying”. The real problem here is that the UFC continues to give fans and ESPN+ terrible heavyweight main events despite consistently mediocre results.
With the exception of Jon Jones, perhaps the most decorated athlete in UFC history, Rozenstruik has earned more main event slots than any other current UFC champion. He’s been at the top of the card six times so far, but none of his matches have been particularly fun to watch. No need to keep trying!
Martial arts has always promoted big men the most. Because that’s what’s most appealing to the casual fan base. But if we have to highlight the 185-pound weight class and above, can we at least make sure those are good matchups? Rozenstryk vs. Gadzhiev lowered the bar in this regard, taking a completely unremarkable undercard fighter and pitting him against a ranked, but stationary and often dull fighter.
We’ve seen enough of Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s main events. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of his win, we saw several calls for a Rozenstruik vs. Derrick Lewis match, but somehow it still hasn’t happened. This is a clear improvement from last night’s main event and would be a great three-round match on any non-Apex “Fight Night” pay-per-view or co-main event.
Instead, we’ll probably get five rounds of treatment, and everyone will be left hoping and praying that it stops within two minutes.
Click here for complete results and play-by-play of UFC Vegas 87: “Rozenstryk vs. Gadzhiyev.”
