Sergei Pavlovich, Jairzinho Rozenstruik to Meet at UFC Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1

A heavyweight clash pitting Sergei Pavlovich against Jairinzho Rozenstruik is on tap for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Saudi Arabia early next year.

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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial report from MMA Mania. UFC Saudi Arabia takes place on Feb. 1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh and will mark the Las Vegas-based promotion’s second visit to the Middle Eastern country. The card does not yet have a main event.

Pavlovich will look to halt the first two-bout losing streak of his professional tenure. The 32-year-old Russian last appeared at UFC on ABC 6, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to former training partner Alexander Volkov at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That setback came on the heels of a 69-second knockout loss to Tom Aspinall in an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 295 last November. Prior to that skid, Pavlovich had finished six consecutive UFC opponents inside of a round.

Rozenstruik will be making his 15th Octagon appearance when he squares off against Pavlovich. “Bigi Boy” is 2-0 thus far in 2024, with a fourth-round TKO win over Shamil Gaziev and a split-decision triumph against Tai Tuivasa to his credit. Rozenstruik is 9-5 during his promotional tenure and also owns notable wins over the likes of Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Andre Arlovski.