UFC 249: Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik Preview, Odds and Prediction

Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik will meet in a title eliminator this Saturday, and decide who comes before Stipe Miocic and challenges the reigning heavyweight UFC champion. This is something that promises a lot of excitement, as we are about to see two super-punchers coming at one another. Even though it isn’t the main or the co-main event at the UFC 249, it is equally interesting as those fights.

Preview

Ngannou (-300) is a heavy favorite in this one, and the oddsmakers believe that his win shouldn’t be questionable. The Predator (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is a more experienced fighter, who is on the rise, with three straight knockouts in the first round, and a total time of all three fights combined – 142 seconds. Now, that is something pretty impressive. Just to tell you, his opponents were Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos. Veterans or not, these guys deserve respect, and his wins need to be taken seriously. For quite some time, Ngannou was pushing for his rematch with Miocic, but in the meantime, Stipe had a clash with Daniel Cormier. Apart from him, the entire UFC community was rooting to see the French fighter in the octagon against Miocic, and see whether he has the quality to bring down the king. Ngannou is arguably the best striker in the division, and his hands are something similar to Deontay Wilder’s. His biggest weapon in this one is experience, as he knows how to behave in big matches, such as this one.

Rozenstruik (+260) is without a single loss in his career for now. He has 10 wins, nine via knockout, four in the UFC. He is a dominant striker, and many believe that besides Ngannou, he is the one with the heaviest punch, as most of his wins came like that. The latest one against Alistair Overeem was the best example of that. The veteran was better than Bigi Boy throughout the entire battle, but in the end, one striker changed everything. Overeem was stunned and sent to la-la land, with a torn lip. That is something just a few athletes have in this world, an ability to change the entire course of the contest in a blink of an eye. Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) defeated Andrei Arlovski before Overeem, but many are suggesting that these rivals are old and on the decline and that he didn’t have a proper test so far.

Prediction

Although it’s not impossible, we can’t see Ngannou losing this one. He is well aware of the danger waiting on the other side, and will try to give his best in staying out of Rozenstruik’s range. The French fighter has a four-inch longer reach, and that will be his big advantage in this contest. Also, as mentioned before, the experience is going to play a major role, as Rozenstruik never met an opponent of his class. It is one thing to take on veterans of this sport, and completely another, one of the most terrifying fighters of the present. So we are picking Ngannou in this one, and if you want to make it riskier, go with Predator’s win via knockout.