Cyril Gane to Face Jairzinho Rozenstruik in March 13th UFC Event

After defeating former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos at UFC 256, French heavyweight  Cyril Gane refused to call out anybody but appeared to have done so anyway when he said that a fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik made sense.

Well, the UFC agreed that the fight made sense and now the two Top 7 heavyweight are booked to face each other at UFC Fight Night 187 or UFC on ESPN+45 on March 13, 2021, at a still to be determined venue.

Coming off Biggest Win

Gane is coming off arguably the biggest win of his MMA career at UFC 256. Although Cigano continues to claim it was an illegal elbow, the fact remains that the 30-year old Frenchman knocked out Dos Santos in the second round of their bout. Gane is 4-0 inside the Octagon with three of his victories coming via stoppage.

Punishing ko Cyril Gane Vs junior DOS Santos UFC 256 new pic.twitter.com/ivLSEknaX3

— Fightgame (@futurefights360) December 13, 2020

The La-Roche-sur-Yon, France native won the TKO heavyweight championship in his professional MMA debut. He successfully defended the belt twice before heading to the UFC in 2019. The former French Muay Thai champion (AFMT) is undefeated in seven MMA bout with three wins via knockout and another three via submission.

Gane has opened and closed as the betting favorite at UFC betting sites in each of his first four UFC assignments. “Bon Gamin” entered his fight against Dos Santos as a heavy -400 odds-on favorite and he cashed out by becoming the 6th fighter to stop the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Tearing Overeem Apart

Rozenstruik is best known for tearing apart Alistair Overeem, literally. The 32-year old Surinamese heavyweight was down in all three scorecards when he knocked out Overeem with four seconds left in the 5th round of their main event fight on December 7, 2019. Overeem ended up getting his lip split in one of the worst cuts ever seen in an MMA fight.

On this day 2019, @JairRozenstruik KO’d @Alistairovereem with only 4 seconds remaining in the 5th round of their main event bout in Washington DC. Rozenstruik was down 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 on the judges scorecards going into the 5th #UFC #Suriname pic.twitter.com/zooqDFvnb7

— Orbital MMA (@OrbitalMMA) December 7, 2020

But Bigi Boy is more than just the guy who busted up Reem like no other. He is currently the UFC’s 3rd ranked heavyweight and has wins over Junior Albini, Allen Crowder, and Junior Dos Santos. He is 5-1 with five knockouts inside the Octagon with his only loss coming at the hands of Francis Ngannou.

The Surinamese heavyweight is a former kickboxing champion who had a record of 76-8 with 64 TKO wins. Inside an MMA cage, Rozenstruik is 11-1 with 10 of his victories coming by way of knockout including seven inside the first round. Bigi Boy has been the betting favorite in four of his six UFC bouts.

Worth the Wait

The UFC’s March 13th event will be headlined by the long-awaited showdown between no. 4 welterweight Leon Edwards and no. 15 Khamzat Chimaev. But that fight isn’t just what’s going to make that event worth the wait. The heavyweight scrap between Rozenstruik and Cyril Gane makes it an even bigger affair.

.@JairRozenstruik vs @Cyril_Gane joins #UFC Fight Night lineup on March 13 https://t.co/pKuDtYyDen pic.twitter.com/dwTMDRDGQ6

— MMA mania (@mmamania) January 13, 2021

Rozenstruik and Gane combine for a total of 16 finishes in 18 wins so this should be an explosive matchup you can’t miss. The UFC heavyweight title is expected to be contested by champion Stipe Miocic and no. 1 contender Francis Ngannou is also being targeted for a March fight date and while nothing is set in stone yet, whoever wins between Rozenstruik and Gane could end up being the next title challenger.

Also booked to fight on the March 13th event are Davey Grant and Jonathan Martinez, Matthew Semelsberger and Jason Witt, and Jinh Yu Frey and Gloria de Paula. Bantamweight Irwin Rivera was also supposed to fight in the event but is off the fight card after he was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his sisters.