Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Cyril Gane Moved Up to UFC Vegas 20

A massive clash between Top 7 heavyweights Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Cyril Gane will headline UFC Vegas 20.

The Rozenstruik vs Gane bout was supposed to happen at the UFC’s March 13th event but after UFC Vegas 20’s main event of Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka was postponed, the fight was moved up two weeks.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, former RIZIN champion Prochazka revealed that his fight with the former light heavyweight challenger Reyes due to injury. In his social media post, Prochazka wished Reyes a “quick recovery” and hoped to fight him soon.

The fight has been postponed from February 27th, but I’m looking forward to fighting Reyes in the near future, and wish him a quick recovery. @ufc @UFCEurope

Zápas 27.2.2021 byl sice odložen, ale na zápas s Dominikem se co nejdříve těším. Teď mu přeji brzké uzdravení. pic.twitter.com/63x4pDtGjd

— Jiri Denisa Prochazka (@jiri_bjp) January 30, 2021

As for Rozenstruik and Gane, their fight will now be a 25-minute headliner instead of a three-round affair. But that may not matter as this fight is not expected to go the distance anyway.

Rescheduled for February 27th

Rozenstruik beat the UFC to the gun in announcing the rescheduling of his next fight. The Surinamese former WLF Super Heavyweight Tournament Champion is the UFC’s no. 3 ranked heavyweight contender.

Ladies and gentlemen, my fight against Ciryl Gane got rescheduled for February 27! 5×5 minutes main card. Spread the word! 💪😎 @ufc @michaelbabb01 #MMA #BigiBoy #Suriname pic.twitter.com/vBL8Tea9F5

— Jairzinho ‘BIGI BOY’ Rozenstruik (@JairRozenstruik) January 30, 2021

Bigi Boi won his first 10 MMA bouts, including 10 in the UFC, before running into Francis Ngannou at UFC 249. Ngannou smoked him in just 20 seconds, stopping Rozenstruik’s meteoric rise in the UFC. Last August, he got back on track after scoring a second-round TKO win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC 252.

This will be the second time that Rozenstruik will be fighting in the main event. In his first five-round foray, Bigi Boi emerged victorious with a come-from-behind win over Alistair Overeem in the fight that infamously saw Overeem’s mouth literally split into two.

Undefeated Contender

Gane is a former French Muay Thai national champion. The 30-year old known as Bon Gamin won the TKO heavyweight championship in his MMA debut and successfully defended his belt twice before he was signed by the UFC in 2019.

TKO libère 🇫🇷Ciryl Gane🇫🇷, Bon Gamin disputera son 1er combat à l’UFC cet été

LA VOIX DES GUERRIERS a appris que le français @ciryl_gane disputera un premier combat à l’UFC cet été. @ufc pic.twitter.com/6Km3yMPx4B

— Ken Wong (@radioguerriers) May 30, 2019

He has been spotless inside the Octagon so far, winning all four of his UFC bouts, including three via stoppage. Gane choked out Raphael Pessoa in his UFC debut and then heel-hooked Don’Tale Mayes in his next fight. He then went three rounds with Tanner Boser in December 2019 before recording a 2nd round TKO win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC 256 last December.

Bon Gamin has an undefeated record of 7-0 with three knockouts and three wins via submission. He is currently the UFC’s seventh-ranked heavyweight contender and is looking to break into the Top 5 with a win over the highly-rated Rozenstruik. BetOnline has Gane with the 4th best odds to become the UFC’s heavyweight champion at the end of 2021.

Gane is the Favorite

Despite being the lower-ranked fighter between the two, the best UFC betting sites have listed Gane as the odds on favorite in this heavyweight clash. Online sportsbook SportsBetting.ag is currently listing Bon Gamin as a -260 betting favorite to beat Bigi Boi who is pegged at +220.

.@JairRozenstruik impressed by Ciryl Gane’s UFC rise: ‘He’s phenomenal’ (via @dannyseguratv) https://t.co/jdaiwRTTfk

— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) January 28, 2021

In a recent interview, Rozenstruik admitted that he is impressed with the Frenchman’s current run in the UFC, calling Gane phenomenal. However, don’t expect Rozenstruick to be starstruck when these two heavyweights meet on March 13th. With a combined 16 stoppages in 18 wins, these two will be looking to take each other’s heads off.

The UFC heavyweight title will be on the line when Stipe Miocic fights Ngannou at UFC 260 two weeks after Rozenstruil and Gane meet. Although UFC President Dana White has hinted that the next title shot will go to Jon Jones, an explosive win by either of these two could change the script.