Jairzinho Rozenstruik secured his first victory in over a year following Shamil Gaziev’s inability to continue in their heavyweight fight.
The main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card at the Apex saw Rozenstruik defeat Gaziev after four rounds of action when Gaziev complained that his vision was affected, and referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight.
Rozenstruik was the superior striker over four rounds as he landed 140 of 230 total strikes with a 59 percent connection rate compared to Gaziev’s 27 of 75 for 32 percent, per UFC Stats.
The final two rounds saw Rozenstruik land 47 and 48 significant strikes respectively compared to Gaziev’s output of 5 and 2 in Rounds 3 & 4.
Rozenstruik improves to 14-5 in the heavyweight division and bounces back after a submission loss to Jailton Almeida last May.
The ref calls it! 👏
🇸🇷 @JairRozenstruik secures the victory after Shamil Gaziev is unable to continue after the fourth! #UFCVegas87 pic.twitter.com/sraUDDP26K
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) March 3, 2024
Gaziev falls to 12-1 after sustaining the first loss of his pro career. After a win on the Contender Series, he made his UFC debut this past December with a TKO win against Martin Buday.
Light Heavyweight Vitor Petrino kept his undefeated record intact with a unanimous win against Tyson Pedro with scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28. After the fight, Pedro announced his retirement from the sport.
"That's it for me with UFC." 🙌
🇦🇺@Tyson_Pedro_ has fought his last fight here at #UFCVegas87 ladies and gentlemen – A true warrior, thank you for all the memories! pic.twitter.com/hxUZtiNntY
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) March 2, 2024
Rising flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev earned a unanimous decision against Alex Perez over three rounds to improve to 12-0 with 1 NC. Mokaev holds a 6-0 record inside of the UFC as he enters the championship conversation.
Another fighter leaving with an unblemished record is Umar Nurmagomedov, who dominated Bekzat Almakhan over three rounds to improve his record to 17-0 with five wins in the UFC’s lightweight division.
The prelims included a vicious knockout by Vinicius Oliveira, who landed a flying knee to stop Bernard Sopag in the closing seconds of their bantamweight contest.
Vinicius Oliveira with a DEVESTATING KO 🤯
He connects with a flying knee. 😮💨
(🎥: @UFC_CA)pic.twitter.com/bmQDdeLoZF
— theScore (@theScore) March 2, 2024
Fight of the Night honors went to Vinicius Oliveira and Bernard Sopaj and the Performance of the Night bonuses were awarded to Steve Erceg and Oliveira.
RESULTS:
*Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Shamil Gaziev by TKO (retirement) at 5:00 of Round 4
*Vitor Petrino def. Tyson Pedro by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Muhammad Mokaev def. Alex Perez by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Umar Nurmagomedov def. Bezkat Almakhan by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
*Steve Erceg def. Matt Schnell by KO at 0:26 of Round 2
*Eryk Anders def. Jamie Pickett by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
*Vinicius Oliveira def. Bernard Sopaj by KO at 4:41 of Round 3
*Christian Leroy Duncan def. Claudio Ribeiro by TKO at 1:57 of Round 2
*L’udovit Klein def. AJ Cunningham by TKO at 4:36 of Round 1
*Loik Radzhabov def. Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady by KO at 0:49 of Round 3
