UFC Fight Night: Shocking Heavyweight Main Event Set for March 2

Originally posted on FanNation MMA Knockout | Last updated 2/9/24

A surprisingly low-stakes heavyweight bout has been set as the main event for a UFC Fight Night card on March 2.

Originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the March 2 event was moved to the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas amidst rumors that a “deeper” card was preferred for Saudi Arabia.

The UFC is looking at rebooking an event in Riyadh for June, and now Marcel Dorff reports that UFC Vegas 87 will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev.

Currently, the UFC’s #12-ranked heavyweight contender, Rozenstruik is coming off a first-round submission loss against Jailton Almeida when the pair headlined UFC on ABC 4 last May.

“Bigi Boy” began his time in the UFC with three-straight knockouts but has failed to win back-to-back fights since then, and he’ll be tasked with handing Gaziev his first career loss when the 33-year-old steps into the Octagon for his first UFC main event.

The co-main event for the card does feature a fantastic flyweight contest between Alex Perez and Muhammad Mokaev, but historically the UFC has preferred to feature heavier weights classes in main event slots.

With the addition of the Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev main event, the UFC Fight Night card on March 2 now looks like this:

• Main Event: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev

• Co-Main Event: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Alex Perez

• Yanis Ghemmouri vs. Vinicius Oliveira

• Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Loik Radzhabov

• Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett

• Joel Alvarez vs. Ludovit Klein

• Javid Basharat vs. Aiemann Zahabi

• Josefine Knutsson vs. Julia Polastri

• Brendon Marotte vs. Mohammad Yahya

• Tyson Pedro vs. Vitor Petrino

• Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell