What you should know about the Alexander Volkov vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik fight

Huynh NguyenJuly 11, 2022

What you should know about the Alexander Volkov vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik fight

The heavyweight fight between Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik is set to take place on July 4, 2022. The Las Vegas Apex Facility is the venue.

The mainstream media is alight with anticipation of the match. Similarly, top prediction sites like liontips.com/tips/hockey have curated the best bookmakers with the most attractive odds on the match.

First, let us talk a bit more about the contest.

Initially, Rozenstruik was slated to face Marcin Tybura in UFC 273 in April, but he was compelled to wait.

This was due to Tybura’s illness, which forced the fight to be canceled a day before the event. A search began for a new opponent, with the beam falling on Alexander Volkov.

The scene is now set for the main event of the fight night, and the expectations from both heavyweights are high.

A peep at the contenders

Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik rank 7th and 8th, respectively, in the UFC heavyweights ranking.

Both of them are not new to the game, with 59 fights and 33 KOs between them.

Alexander Volkov

Alexander Volkov, aged 33, is a professional mixed martial artist from Russia. Since debuting at the MMA professional level in 2009, he has steadily risen the ranks, currently peaking at 7th.

His MMA record stands at 44 matches in total. From these, he has bagged 34 wins and 10 losses, securing 22 of those wins by knockouts.

Alias Drago, Volkov is a lethal striker. He has good body movement and also makes good use of his height very well.

His 6ft 7in height is advantageous as he utilizes it to deliver long-distance strikes.

Drago is also known for his patience, tactically stalking his opponent around the octagon and waiting for the right time to deliver those precise strikes and body kicks.

Talking of body kicks, Volkov is a daring kicker. Due to his Karate experience, his legs are a core part of his attack strategy.

He is notorious for consciously targeting vulnerable parts of his opponent’s body and finishing off with a high left kick to the head.

Despite his pedigree, Volkov has been quite inconsistent, winning three of his last five fights, with the latest being a loss by submission to Tom Aspinall.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Rozenstruik started his professional fighting career as a kickboxer. His time as a kickboxer was a success, winning 76 out of 85 fights, ultimately winning the WLF Super Heavyweight Championship.

Currently, he plies his trade in the UFC at the heavyweight division and is 8th on the heavyweight rankings.

Rozenstruik, also known as Bigi Boy, debuted in the UFC on February 2, 2019. It took him only two rounds to emerge victorious via TKO.

Since then, the 34-year-old Surinamese has garnered a total of 15 fights amidst two Performance of the Night awards.

As a result of his multi-year experience as a kickboxer, Rozenstruik still fights in the UFC with the kickboxing style. He majorly uses his legs to weaken his opponents’ stance before dishing out a series of strikes.

Besides his strikes, Bigi Boy is known for resilience, patiently absorbing strikes while waiting for the right opportunity to land his own strikes.

Rozenstruik has finished all but one of his wins with knockouts, highlighting his heavy-handedness.

In his last six fights, Rozenstruik has had alternating wins and losses, with the last one being a loss against Curtis Blaydes on September 21, 2021.

The Permutations

Both heavyweights have chances of winning the scheduled bout if they utilize their qualities effectively.

Volkov’s 44-match experience has exposed him to different fighters with different fighting patterns, Rozenstruik’s inclusive.

His long reach is an advantage over his tad-shorter 6ft 2in opponent.

He should be able to keep his opponent at bay with his long hands while avoiding the legs and dishing out following up strikes.

Rozenstruik had an unfortunate incident wherein he was knocked out in under 20 seconds by Francis Ngannou via an early deadly strike.

Volkov can use this to his advantage by going for the offensive early on with powerful strikes.

On the other hand, Rozenstruik’s ability to weather strikes can pose an advantage, only this time, it should not be a devastating one like the Ngannou’s strike.

With his muscular and bulky frame, he can go for grapples, wearing down his opponent and then dishing out his signature leg kicks.

With his heavy-handedness, he will like also go for the powerful combos as he tries to close down the gap over his far-reaching opponent.

In addition, he can take advantage of his bulky frame to try out the submission since his opponent lost by that in his most recent match.

However, considering their inconsistencies, a draw may likely be the outcome of this fight.

Conclusion

Whatever the situation during the fight may be, this is an open fight as both are sure to unleash their skills on each other. The end of the fifth round will tell the full tale.

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