Jairzinho Rozenstruik was called upon to replace Walt Harris against Alistair Overeem at UFC on ESPN 7, after Harris pulled out due to personal reasons.
Rozenstruik has been vocal about his wishes to fight a top-ten fighter for a while now. He finally got his wish fulfilled with this booking. He shared his thoughts about the same at the teleconference ahead of the Saturday night fight.
Rozenstruik wants Ngannou next
The 'Bigi Boy' is not dialing down his intention to fight top fighters of his division. In the teleconference, when asked if he has a plan chalked down for the title shot, Rozenstruik made it clear whom he wants next and why.
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The question was: "You've got your wish to fight a top-ten. A win would shoot you up the rankings. It would give you a clear look at the heavyweight belt. Have you mapped out a plan into title contention, and what is it?"
Rozenstruik said he wanted the "big, scary guy" Francis Ngannou after this.
“Yes, I'll win this fight, and then I want to fight this big scary guy, Francis Ngannou. As soon as I've got that fight, I'm going to go for the title. For me, that's an exciting fight, and I want that fight for my career. It's a big challenge.”
He was also asked how it felt to be featured in the main event in his first year under the promotion. For Rozenstruik, it was certainly a dream come true.
“It feels great. I'm living in a movie, like I'm dreaming. It's unreal. Yeah, I like it.”
The fight will take place on December 7, Saturday, at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.