UFC Fight Night 189 results: Jairzinho Rozenstruik lands buzzer-beating first round TKO of Augusto Sakai

Jairzinho Rozenstruik is back in the win column with another buzzer-beater.

The heavyweight knockout artist is back to his winning ways after defeating Augusto Sakai by TKO in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 189 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Rozenstruik (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) put the finishing touches on Sakai (15-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at the last second in the first round.

The heavyweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 189 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It streamed on ESPN+.

Rozenstruik is not known for his high output early in fights, and that was no different on Saturday night. He has no problem waiting for the perfect opportunity to land a knockout blow while controlling the center of the cage.

After what was largely an uneventful first round with sporadic striking exchanges, Rozenstruik found the opening he was hoping for as Sakai attempted to circle away along the fence.

It was a crushing two-punch combination that caught Sakai on the exit, sending him to the canvas. Rozenstruik would enter to land a few more punches but the referee did not want to see any more action, despite the round-ending horn being just a second away.

ONE. PUNCH. POWER.

@JairRozenstruik with the finish right before the bell! #UFCVegas28 pic.twitter.com/EZ9gNiX63G

— UFC (@ufc) June 6, 2021

Trading wins and losses in his last four outings, Rozenstruik got back on track Saturday evening. He also could have an affinity for landing last-second knockouts, as he did the same thing to Alistair Overeem in the final seconds of the fifth round at UFC on ESPN 7.

Tonight’s performance against Sakai was what Rozenstruik needed to re-establish himself in the division. The Suriname native now has six wins under the UFC banner, including wins in two of three main event slots.

Sakai has now lost two in a row for the first time in his career. He was originally scheduled to fight Shamil Abdurakhimov in May but was shifted to his second consecutive main event opportunity against a bigger name in Rozenstruik. Unfortunately for the Dana White’s Contender Series veteran, things did not go as planned on Saturday.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 189 results include:

• Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Augusto Sakai via KO (Punch) – Round 1, (4:59)
• Marcin Tybura def. Walt Harris via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:06
• Roman Dolidze def. Laureano Staropoli via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Miguel Baeza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gregory Rodrigues def. Dusko Todorovic via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Montana De La Rosa def. Ariane Lipski via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:27
• Ilir Latifi def. Tanner Boser via split decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)
• Muslim Salikhov def. Francisco Trinaldo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Kamuela Kirk def. Makwan Amirkhani via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mason Jones vs. Alan Patrick declared no contest (accidental eye poke on Patrick)
• Manon Fiorot def. Tabatha Ricci via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:00
• Sean Woodson def. Youssef Zalal via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Claudio Puelles def. Jordan Leavitt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)