Heavyweights
#12 HW | Jairzinho Rozenstruik (14-5, 8-5 UFC) vs. #10 HW | Tai Tuivasa (14-7, 8-7 UFC)UFC 305: Du Plessis vs. Adesanya Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
Tuivasa’s UFC career, like that of many heavyweights, has been a tale of highs and lows, and things are currently at a low. Tuivasa was an interesting pickup for the UFC in 2017 as a raw talent with knockout power and more athleticism than his size would suggest. It figured to take “Bam Bam” a bit to find his groove in the promotion, but he instead hit the ground running with three straight wins; and with Tuivasa’s natural charisma and the UFC’s desire for Australian stars, it was enough for him to be given a headlining spot in Adelaide just over a year into his UFC career. Tuivasa nearly won that main event against Junior dos Santos before getting knocked out himself, which, in turn, prompted a three-fight skid where he looked somewhat lost. After the last of those defeats to Serghei Spivac, Tuivasa took a year off, retooled and looked much improved, adding a small bit of patience to his game that paid plenty of dividends. That led to an upswing in the form of five straight knockout wins, but just as Tuivasa seemed to be on the verge of some big opportunities, everything crashed back to earth with the Aussie now riding four straight losses. Even with his adjustments in approach, Tuivasa is still a fairly straightforward slugger, which has hit a ceiling even in the current form of the UFC’s heavyweight division. Tuivasa got taken apart by Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov, two of the more technical fighters in the division, and then there are coinflips against Sergei Pavlovich and Marcin Tybura where he wound up losing a race to the finish. This fight against Rozenstruik figures to be another one of those coinflip fights, as this seems destined to end with a quick knockout in one direction or the other.
Suriname’s Rozenstruik was one of the UFC’s big breakout fighters of 2019, as “Bigi Boy” started the year outside of the promotion and ended it as a title contender thanks to four straight knockouts. Like Tuivasa, Rozenstruik doesn’t have much to offer whenever action goes to the mat, which has left him in similar knockout-or-bust territory. While Tuivasa usually does enough to make something happen, Rozenstruik’s fights are much more hit-or-miss in terms of excitement, thanks to his overly patient approach. Rozenstruik can land some sharp counters when opponents close ranks and get reckless, but if he’s not given anything to work with, he is content not to work, resulting in some ugly stretches where nothing happens. Tuivasa should eventually force the issue enough to provide some fireworks, at which point this becomes one of those coinflip bouts. The lean here is that while Tuivasa might throw the first big shots, Rozenstruik will land the cleanest. The pick is Rozenstruik via first-round knockout.
Jump To »
Du Plessis vs. Adesanya
Erceg vs. Kara-France
Gamrot vs. Hooker
Rozenstruik vs. Tuivasa
Prates vs. Li
The Prelims