Just 10 months into his UFC career, Jair Rozenstruik will get his first main event with the promotion.
Rozenstruik (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has agreed to step in and fight Alistair Overeem (45-17 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in December’s UFC on ESPN 7 headliner after Walt Harris was forced to withdrawal from the matchup due to the continued search for his missing stepdaughter.
MMA Junkie verified the new main event bout with a person close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN.com. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC on ESPN 7 takes place Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington. The card is expected to air on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.
The undefeated Rozenstruik, 31, is fresh off a 29-second knockout of Andrei Arlovski at UFC 244 this past weekend. “Bigi Boy” has finished eight of his nine career wins inside the distance, with all of those stoppages coming inside the six-minute mark.
Rozenstruik, who is the only UFC fighter from Suriname, said post-fight at UFC 244 that he wanted to make a quick turnaround for the fight with Overeem. He gets his wish to take on the former Strikeforce and DREAM champion.
Overeem, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA heavyweight rankings, is coming off back-to-back opening round finishes of Aleksei Oleinik and Sergei Pavlovich.
The latest UFC on ESPN 7 lineup now includes:
- Alistair Overeem vs. Jair Rozenstruik
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Livinha Souza
- Cody Stamann vs. Song Yadong
- Yana Kunitskaya vs. Aspen Ladd
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Ben Rothwell vs. Stefan Struve
- Carlos Condit vs. Mickey Gall
- Chris Fishgold vs. Billy Quarantillo
- Cortney Casey vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Bryce Mitchell vs. Matt Sayles
- Joe Solecki vs. Matt Wiman
- Thiago Alves vs. Tim Means
- Rob Font vs. Ricky Simon
