Matchmaker Monday following UFC Vegas 28
UFC Vegas 28 produced a buzzer beater finish in the main event.
With one second left in the opening round, referee Herb Dean stopped the fight after Jairzinho Rozenstruik landed a heavy bomb that sent Augusto Sakai flying down to the canvas only to have Rozenstruik follow up with a hard ground and pound.
The win puts Rozenstruik back in the win column after losing to Ciryl Gane in February. Meanwhile, Augusto is down on the losing end of back-to-back defeats. Let’s find out their next moves on this Matchmaker Monday.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Result: defeated Augusto Sakai by first-round TKO at UFC Vegas 28
Next: Curtis Blaydes
Rozenstruik showed he’s not going anywhere. He was ranked right outside the top five coming into the fight and a loss would have sent him back. Luckily for him, he showed that he does belong with the top dogs at heavyweight.
So far in his UFC career, Rozenstruik is no stranger to big fights. He’s shared the octagon with a number of champions and has fought in several main events. His next fight will have the potentially to main event a fight night and that opportunity will come against Blaydes.
The Blaydes matchup makes the most sense as they are in similar spots in their careers and they have yet to fight each other. Before the promotion starts booking rematches in this division, let’s get one the fans haven’t seen yet.
Augusto Sakai
Result: lost to Jairzinho Rozenstruik by first-round TKO at UFC Vegas 28
Next: Chris Daukaus
Sakai couldn’t of started his UFC career any better as he won his first four fights. Since then he’s dropped back-to-back fights to Alistair Overeem.
Given the result of his last two outings, I doubt he’ll get another guy ranked toward the top of the division. He’s looking at a guy ranked outside of the top ten.
Sakai has beaten a number of contenders ranked in that area of the division so in order to give him someone he hasn’t fought yet, the UFC should book him against Daukaus who is currently ranked No. 10.
