Athletes
Jairzinho Rozenstruik | The Calm Before The Storm
Veteran Heavyweight Discusses Strong 2024 Ahead Of 2025 Debut Opposite Sergei Pavlovich
Every athlete is different when it comes to interviews. With some, you sit down, hit record, and you’re off to the races, instantly falling into a rhythm and flow that turns a quick chat into a 30-minute conversation with detailed answers, inside jokes, and little kernels of insight that are usually hard to come by.
But others prefer to keep things short and simple, opting to provide enough of a response to properly answer your questions, but without giving away too many details. Some of it is gamesmanship — a refusal to let the other side know too much about what transpired in training camp or where their mind is at as they ready for battle — but sometimes, it’s also just the natural way that competitor carries themselves, as is the case with Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
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“I think that’s my personality, most of it,” said the native of Suriname, who faces off with Sergei Pavlovich on Saturday, when asked about his laid-back demeanor during fight week. “We used to say, ‘it’s the calm before the storm,’ and ‘don't waste too much energy right now.’
“I bring it all to the Octagon and leave it all out there.”
Entering last year off a disappointing first-round stoppage loss to Jailton Almeida, Rozenstruik made the most of his two opportunities to compete in 2024.
He opened the year in a tricky main event pairing with promising Dana White’s Contender Series grad Shamil Gaziev, who was undefeated at the time and coming off a stoppage win over Martin Buday in his promotional debut. It was a classic instance where the streaking newcomer was being given an early chance to catapult himself into the top tier in the division, but “Bigi Boy” was having none of it.
After successfully navigating the opening couple rounds when his adversary was fresh and full of energy, the veteran kickboxer upped his output and pace, fatiguing and ultimately retiring Gaziev in between the fourth and fifth rounds.
Then in August, he ventured to Perth and dominated his fight with Tai Tuivasa, only to have one judge somehow score the fight in favor of the West Sydney native. While he still came away on the positive side of the split decision verdict, forcing his way back into the Top 10 in the heavyweight rankings in the process, the fact that it sits on his record looking like a close fight doesn’t accurately portray how the fight played out.
Regardless of the judging controversy, the tandem wins further solidified Rozenstruik’s standing as a fixture in the heavyweight ranks and sent him towards this year with a ton of momentum, which he quietly, cunningly, credits to changes he made following that frustrating loss to Almeida the previous year.
“I changed a lot of things — training habits — to get the results we wanted, that we got in 2024,” he said when asked to pinpoint what changed last year to help him return to his winning ways. “There were a couple of things: one of my coaches, one of my team, one of my staff. As I mentioned, training habits, getting back some old stuff I used to do.”
While he wasn’t overly keen on diving into the details of the changes that have taken place behind the closed gym doors, the 36-year-old finisher had a much greater willingness to share his thoughts when the subject shifted to the man he’ll share the Octagon with this weekend.
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“‘Yes, let’s do it!’” he said with a smile, recalling his reaction to being offered this weekend’s bout with Pavlovich, who enters the contest stationed at No. 4 in the rankings. "That’s where we wanna go. I want to get myself back up there in the Top 5, put myself back in the conversation for the title, be a champion, of course, so getting this matchup was a huge chance, a huge step up, so I said ‘yes’ right away.”
Pavlovich heads into Saturday’s matchup on a two-fight skid, having fallen to Tom Aspinall when the two faced off for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295 in New York City before dropping a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkov last summer when the UFC made its initial foray to Riyadh. The setbacks snapped a six-fight run of first-round finishes for the burly Russian powerhouse, leaving many to wonder if he’s in the midst of a tailspin.
But Rozenstruik isn’t one of those people.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik Fight Week Interview | UFC Saudi Arabia
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Jairzinho Rozenstruik Fight Week Interview | UFC Saudi Arabia
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“I don’t look at it that way,” began the veteran heavyweight, who enters Saturday’s contest with a 15-5 record. “It’s a huge matchup. Despite his two losses, I know he’s a great athlete — I used to train with him before, so I know who he is and what he brings to the table.
“I look at it more as what can I do, what should I do to win? I know the key and I’m bringing the guns out there.”
Where some people are dismissive of previous experience training together providing tangible insights and meaningful data to use when facing off with that individual, Rozenstruik believes the time he shared on the mats and in the cage with Pavlovich in the past will absolutely be useful when it comes to helping him turn back the former interim title challenger this weekend.
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“You can take everything away,” he said when asked about his time working with Pavlovich at American Top Team. “You see everything, you’ve been there. I trained with him for two years — I’ve seen a lot, I’ve trained with him a lot, so yeah.”
He trailed off, leaving the confidence he’s obviously gleaned from having done myriad sessions alongside his weekend opponent officially unspoken.
Even with Pavlovich currently sitting on consecutive defeats, any matchup featuring a fighter ranked in the Top 5 and two positioned inside the Top 10 is of great significance, and Rozenstruik knows there is a lot on the line for each of them when they share the Octagon at anb Arena on Saturday.
He’s expecting Pavlovich to be back to his hard-charging ways, and has a simple outlook on how to deal with the aggression that is sure to come his way.
“You have a lot of aggressive fighters,” he began with a smile. “The way to stop them is to punch them in the face, of course, and go from there; the reaction will decide.
“I’m bringing the fight to him, definitely. He wants to win, so he has to come forward. Any mistake he makes, the fight’s over.”
And with a victory on Saturday night in Riyadh, Rozenstruik sees the rest of the year being all about one thing: chasing down a championship opportunity.
“A win this Saturday puts me in the No. 4 ranking in the world; that means I’m fighting one more guy before I’m fighting for the title, or I can jump right in there looking for the title shot.
“That’s where I see myself by the end of 2025.”
Kevin Schuster contributed to this story.
UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs Imavov took place live from anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 1, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!