Jairzinho Rozenstruik knocks out Augusto Sakai in first round

Jairzinho Rozenstruik bounced back from his disappointing loss to Cyril Gane in style as he knocked out fellow heavyweight contender Augusto Sakai at the end of the first round to get back into the win column.

“Bigi Boy” and his Brazilian counterpart fought pensively in the opening round, with both men packing a lot of power and waiting to strike at the right time.

Suriname’s Rozenstruik was the man who fired the first meaningful shot of that first five minutes and it paid dividends.

A looping left hook caught the retreating Sakai, sending him down to the floor. Rozenstruik quickly followed that up by slamming more ground and pound strikes into the compromised Sakai, forcing referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest right as the horn sounded to signal the end of the round.

Former professional kickboxer Rozenstruik now moves to 12-2 in his MMA career, while Sakai is now dealing with a two-fight losing streak.

 

Marcin Tybura rallies to KO Walt Harris

Marcin Tybura continued his winning run in the UFC and his ascent up the heavyweight rankings on Saturday night, but he had to overcome adversity to get there.

His opponent Walt Harris threw the kitchen sink at Tybura, landing most of his powerful punches, knees and kicks as he blitzed the Pole as soon as the fight began.

Tybura managed to weather that serious storm by catching a kick and throwing Harris down the canvas.

From there, it was all “Tybur.” The former M-1 Global heavyweight champion had his way with his American counterpart on the ground and eventually punched his way to taking Harris’ back.

Tybura then flattened Harris out before landing a series of undefended punches to a vulnerable Harris on the ground to secure the TKO victory.

The Pole is now enjoying a five-fight win streak after handing Harris his third defeat in a row.

 

Santiago Ponzinibbio bests Miguel Baeza for decision win in back-and-forth war

Santiago Ponzinibbio handed Miguel Baeza the first defeat of his MMA career in a back-and-forth war that could be among the contenders for Fight of the Year.

Baeza started the contest strongly, chewing up Ponzinibbio’s lead leg with calf kicks, throwing front kicks to the body, and landing punching combinations up top.

However, the Argentinian welterweight was able to reverse Baeza’s momentum in the fight from the second round onwards.

Behind a stiff jab, Ponzinibbio dug deep to successfully land some big punch combinations that stopped Baeza from dictating the fight and start competing on his heels.

Ponzinibbio continued to be the aggressor in the final round, this time mixing up his headhunting with some punches to the body and leg kicks of his own to really turn the fight to his favour.

The contest ended with both men swinging wildly to secure either a win by stoppage or do enough to sway the judges in their favour.

In the end, it was Ponzinibbio who did enough in those last two rounds to earn 29-28 scorecards from the officials sat cageside.

 

UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai full results

Heavyweight: Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Augusto Sakai by TKO (punches) at 4:59 of round one
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura def. Walt Harris by TKO (punches) at 4:06 of round one
Middleweight: Roman Dolidze def. Laureano Staropoli by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Miguel Baeza by unanimous decision after three rounds
Middleweight: Gregory Rodrigues def. Duško Todorović by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Flyweight: Montana De La Rosa def. Ariane Lipski by TKO (punches) at 4:27 of round two
Heavyweight: Ilir Latifi def. Tanner Boser by split decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Muslim Salikhov def. Francisco Trinaldo by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Kamuela Kirk def. Makwan Amirkhani by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Alan Patrick vs. Mason Jones ended in a No Contest (accidental eye poke) at 2:14 of round two
Women’s Flyweight: Manon Fiorot def. Tabatha Ricci by TKO (punches) at 3:00 of round two
Featherweight: Sean Woodson def. Youssef Zalal by split decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Claudio Puelles def. Jordan Leavitt by unanimous decision after three rounds