UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes has stated that he is not impressed by fellow heavyweight fighter Jairzinho Rozenstruik and plans to finish him in their fight which takes place at UFC 266 on September 25.
Blaydes is coming off a brutal one-punch ko loss to Derrick Lewis who not only defeated him but also stole his ticket to the title shot. Before that setback, Blaydes had rattled off four consecutive wins including victories over Alexander Volkov and former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
Jairzinho Rozenstruk was on an amazing run in the division before a devasting first-round ko loss against the current champion Francis Ngannou. After that, he faced another defeat at the hands of rinsing contender Ciryl Gane. Those are the only two losses in his MMA career. Rozenstruk is coming off a first-round TKO of Augusto Sakai in the UFC Fight Night 189 main event in June.
Curtis Blaydes is not impressed by Jairzinho Rozenstruk
“I wasn’t overly impressed with the technique,” Blaydes said to LowKickMMA. “Obviously the power is impressive, but the technique is not… like watching him, I watched him when he fought Gane and you could just tell the difference in the speed and fluidity and the technique. Jairzinho is more of your old-school, classic plodder. You go, I go, you go, I go. I don’t find him that explosive, he doesn’t have crazy attacks. It’s pretty basic. But it works for him, he sticks with what he knows. He doesn’t bring a lot of diversity which does make it a little easier to gameplan, but you always have to be aware of the power.”
“I think it plays out almost like the Derrick Lewis fight, except without me getting hit with the uppercut. I think I’m faster than him, I’m longer than him,” Blaydes said. “I’m the better fighter overall. I got the better striking; I think I’m more aggressive. Ill be able to put him on the cage, and pressure him and then he’ll make a mistake and I’ll be able either put him away on the feet or get to his hips and get that first career submission win.”
Though Blaydes is known for his wrestling and grappling he is yet to get a submission wins and is planning to get that against Bigi Boy.
UFC 266 is on September 25 but does have an announced location or venue. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+. The card will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between the champion Jan Blachowicz and the challenger Glover Teixeira. Also, another fight set for UFC 266 is the featherweight matchup between the challenger Brian Ortega and the champion Alexander Volkanovski.
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