UFC Fight Night: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Augusto Sakai Preview, Odds, Prediction

Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai are the main protagonists of the upcoming UFC Fight Night that takes place in Las Vegas this Saturday. Two heavyweights who hope to receive a chance to challenge Francis Ngannou one day meet, knowing that a win here would significantly increase their prospects for getting that shot at the title. Both of these guys are strong and powerful punchers who know how to finish the fight in a spectacular fashion. It’s no wonder why Dana White and the UFC picked them to headline the event, and hopefully, we will witness one exciting fight.

Preview

Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-135) was one of the fastest rising stars in the UFC. Up until the point where he clashed with Francis Ngannou, who slashed him quickly and ruthlessly. It was a hard reality-check for Bigi Boy, who previously won all but one of his 10 wins via KO.

After this match, Rozenstruik defeated the former champion, Junior dos Santos, via second-round TKO and bounced back, yet lost to Ciryl Gane after a unanimous decision in one pretty boring clash which saw these two guys mostly hiding from one another.

Rozenstruik is a kick-boxer whose primary weapon are extremely powerful punches. They aren’t polished enough, but they sure can cause a lot of damage, and for example, Alistair Overeem knows that the best. As for Bigi Boy, that is pretty much where his list of excellence ends, and all other areas of his fight are mostly mediocre.

Augusto Sakai (+120) surprised everyone once he lost to Alistair Overeem. The Brazilian had four straight wins prior to that battle, though only two were confident. Sakai beat Chase Sherman and Marcin Tybura via KO and the former champion Andrei Arlovski and Blagoy Ivanov with split decisions in matches that could really go either way.

Sakai is also a strong puncher, though his wrestling skills are slightly better than Rozenstruik’s. On the other hand, his punch isn’t anywhere near as strong. Until losing to Overeem, we believed that his cardio might be a bit better, but now, it could be said that it is average.

The Brazilian of Japanese roots looks versatile, but overall, apart from his combo punches, there is nothing worthy of mentioning when it comes down to breaking his fight plan. Losing to Overeem, who is on a massive decline, was one thing that, let’s say, exposed this guy.

Prediction

Reading this previous paragraph, you could sense that we don’t have such a high opinion about Sakai’s prospects in this clash, which is the truth. Rozenstruik is our pick in this case, and we would definitely recommend betting on the Surinamese. At one point in the match, he will get the chance to use his terrifying punches, and that is when we believe that the fight will be stopped. Rozenstruik had tougher opponents in the past; he experienced what it is like to face the best of the best, while on the other side, Sakai’s rivals were mostly gatekeepers or washed-out veterans.

Pick: Rozenstruik to win -135