The heavyweight division will be thrust into the spotlight this Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 189.
In the main event, Jairzinho Rozenstruik takes on Augusto Sakai with fellow heavyweight fighters Walt Harris and Marcin Tybura squaring off in the co-main event.
All the action goes down live on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
While the four might not strike a “who?” from casual fans, there is really nothing more exciting than throwing these big-time bombers into the Octagon and seeing who survives.
With the main event and co-main event billings added, you can almost guarantee excitement.
But who will be the ones making the biggest move?
Rozenstruik started his career 10-0 highlighted by back-to-back 2019 knockouts of former champions Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski. Since, he has gone 1-2 with setbacks to both champion Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane around a finish of another ex-titleholder, Junior dos Santos.
This is a pivotal spot for his career. A loss could really send Rozenstruik down the pecking order, while a win would position him nicely for a bout later this year.
Sakai had his lengthy win streak snapped last September by Overeem, suffering a tough fifth-round finish defeat. Prior to that, he had posted wins over Arlovski, Tybura and Blagoy Ivanov.
Harris is feeling a bit of pressure after back-to-back second round defeats to Alexander Volkov and Overeem. He had posted wins over Aleksei Oleinik and Sergey Spivak before the tough times, but Harris is a fan favorite and always brings it.
Tybura is the hottest of the four, having reeled off four consecutive wins since the loss to Sakai in 2019. He finished Greg Hardy in December and also has wins over Ben Rothwell, Spivak and Maxim Grishin.
So Who Wins Big Saturday?
If I had to put down a wager, I’d go with Sakai and Tybura to pick up wins, which might set us on course for a rematch between the two.
The prelims will also feature a heavyweight encounter between Tanner Boser and Ilir Latifi.
