Curtis Blaydes vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik slated for UFC 266

An intriguing heavyweight battle is on deck for UFC 266 in September.

Fresh off a first-round knockout win, UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik already has his next fight lined up.

MMA Fighting first reported that the #6 ranked Rozenstruik has verbally agreed to face #4 ranked Curtis Blaydes at UFC 266. No venue has been announced for this card as of yet.

Rozenstruik (12-2) put away Augusto Sakai in the UFC Vegas 28 main event earlier this month, getting back on track after a very tepid and dull unanimous decision loss to Ciryl Gane in February. The Surinamese striker has notably scored knockouts of Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos in his brief UFC career, with his only other defeat coming by quick KO to current champ Francis Ngannou.

Blaydes (14-3, 1 NC) is coming off a second-round KO loss to Derrick Lewis in February. His other two defeats came against Ngannou, and his top wins have been against Alexander Volkov, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and Shamil Abdurakhimov. Blaydes is known for his wrestling but has improved his offensive striking over the years, even if his style hasn’t exactly won over fans or Dana White. Unless something has changed over the past few months, he is entering the final fight of his UFC contract, so that’s another story worth monitoring.

UFC 266 takes place on September 25th and is expected to feature light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz against Glover Teixeira in the main event. A featherweight title defense for Alex Volkanovski versus Brian Ortega is also targeted for this event.