UFC Vegas 28 to be headlined by heavyweight contenders' doubleheader

Las Vegas, May 28: The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to action at UFC APEX with a pair of thrilling heavyweight contenders' bouts, as No. 6 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik battles No. 9 Augusto Sakai in UFC Vegas 28.

Former kickboxing standout Rozenstruik (11-2, fighting out of Paramaribo, Suriname) made waves upon joining the UFC roster in early 2019, securing four consecutive knockouts within a 10-month span.

He has delivered spectacular KO victories over heavyweight legends Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski to crack the division's top five. Rozenstruik now hopes to defend his spot in the rankings by turning away a dangerous rising contender.

After turning heads on Dana White's Contender Series to secure a UFC contract, Sakai (15-2-1, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) immediately began ascending the heavyweight ladder.

Throughout his Octagon run he has earned memorable wins against Blagoy Ivanov, Andrei Arlovski and Chase Sherman. Sakai now has his sights set on making the most of his second UFC main event by netting the biggest victory of his career to enter the heavyweight top five.

The co-main event of this weekend's UFC Fight Night event will see another heavyweight bout as No. 8 Walt Harris take on surging No. 11 Marcin Tybura.

KO artist Harris (13-9 1NC, fighting out of Birmingham, Ala.) is gunning for another highlight-reel finish to cement his status as one of the top heavyweights in the world.

The heavy-handed striker has finished each of his career wins, including standout performances against Aleksei Oleinik, Sergey Spivak and Chase Sherman. Harris now looks to send a message with another thrilling KO.

Tybura (21-6, fighting out of Uniejow, Poland) enters his fifth year on the UFC roster riding an impressive four-fight win streak.

Coming off a Performance of the Night earning win over Greg Hardy in December, he has also delivered notable victories over Ben Rothwell, Stefan Struve and Andrei Arlovski. Tybura now aims to continue his momentum by taking out another hard-hitting contender.

Additional bouts on the card include:

• Roman Dolidze (8-1, fighting out of Batumi, Georgia) faces Laureano Staropoli (9-3, fighting out of La Plata, Argentina), who is stepping in for injured Alessio Di Chirico at middleweight.

• Welterweight veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-4, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) aims to become the first fighter to stop undefeated Miguel Baeza (10-0, fighting out of Davie, Fla.).

• Dusko Todorovic (10-1, fighting out of Belgrade, Serbia) squares off with replacement Gregory Rodrigues (9-3, fighting out of Los Angeles), who is replacing injured Maki Pitolo at middleweight.

• Tom Breese (12-3, fighting out of Birmingham, England) meets Antonio Arroyo (9-4, fighting out of Belem, Para, Brazil) in a clash of middleweight strikers.

• Makwan Amirkhani (16-5, fighting out of Turku, Finland by way of Kurdistan) locks horns with replacement Kamuela Kirk (11-4, fighting out of Peoria, Ariz.) at featherweight, due to an injury sustained by Nate Landwehr.

• Montana De La Rosa (11-6-1, fighting out of Fort Worth, Texas) faces Ariane Lipski (13-6, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) in a women's flyweight contest.

• Tanner Boser (19-7-1, fighting out of Edmonton, Alta., Canada) meets Ilir Latifi (15-8 1NC, fighting out of Malmo, Sweden) in a battle of budding heavyweight contenders.

• Francisco Trinaldo (26-7, fighting out of Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil) makes his welterweight debut when he takes on Muslim Salikhov (17-2, fighting out of Buynaksk, Dagestan, Russia).

• Alan Patrick (15-3, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) aims to return to his winning ways against Mason Jones (10-1, fighting out of Blaenavon, Wales) at lightweight.

• Manon Fiorot (6-1, fighting out of Nice, France) looks to build off the momentum of her impressive debut when she takes on tough Maryna Moroz (10-3, fighting out of Volnogorsk, Ukraine) at flyweight.

• Sean Woodson (7-1, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.) takes on Youssef Zalal (10-4, fighting out of Englewood, Colo. by way of Casablanca, Morocco) in a clash of promising featherweights.

• Claudio Puelles (10-2, fighting out of Lima, Peru) hopes to hand unbeaten Jordan Leavitt (8-0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) his first career loss in a lightweight bout.

UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai will take place Saturday, June 5 from UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The entire card will be available in English and Spanish on ESPN+, starting with the prelims at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT and the main card at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

Source: Press Release