Heavyweight headliners are back on the menu for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2024.
Ahead of
UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2, an event famously moved from
Saudi Arabia to Las Vegas due to a perceived lack of star power, a
top matchup was on the docket between
Jairzinho
Rozenstruik (13-5) and
Shamil
Gaziev (12-0). The show did not have a main attraction Thursday
when
Eurosport
NL reported that this heavyweight contest had been elevated to
the main event. The promotion
confirmed
this booking would be on the top marquee on Friday.
Rozenstruik has struggled the last couple years, only managing one
win—a 23-second knockout of
Chris
Daukaus—while suffering three defeats to
Curtis
Blaydes,
Alexander
Volkov, and most recently,
Jailton
Almeida. Despite his setbacks, “Bigi Boy” still sports a
sky-high knockout rate of 92%, and he is on the heavyweight
knockout leaderboard tied in the top 10 with several other men with
seven to his credit.
Born in Dagestan, Russia, and currently representing Bahrain,
Gaziev has yet to suffer a loss as a pro. This appearance will be
only his second under the UFC banner, as he made his triumphant
debut in December by laying waste to
Martin
Buday in under six minutes. Like his opponent, Gaziev has
earned all but one of his victories by stoppage, with all 11
finishes coming within two rounds.
UFC Fight Night 238 goes down at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on March
2, with Rozenstruik-Gaziev in the pole position. Other key pairings
include a flyweight clash between
Alex Perez
and
Muhammad
Mokaev, a light heavyweight collision of
Vitor
Petrino vs.
Tyson Pedro
and a lightweight affair as
Joel
Alvarez takes on
Ludovit
Klein.