UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev

WSN

29 February 2024

UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev - Picks & Predictions

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev - Heavyweight division

Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro - Light heavyweight division

Alex Perez vs. Muhammad Mokaev - Flyweight division

Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett - Middleweight division

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Bekzat Almakhan - Bantamweight division

Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg - Flyweight division

Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev - Heavyweight Division

The first of four undefeated fighters on this weekend’s main card, Shamil Gaziev looks to crack into the heavyweight top-15 with a big win over number-12 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Gaziev won his Contender Series bout with a first-round submission before defeating Martin Buday via second-round TKO in his UFC debut last December.

Rozenstruik, a UFC mainstay since 2019, is just 7-5 during his time with the promotion and was recently defeated by rising contender Jailton Almeida via first-round submission last May.

Both men will have an equal reach but Gaziev will have a two-inch height advantage.

Surprisingly, at -148, Gaziev is the lowest betting favorite on this main card. Yes, this weekend’s card will see a load of betting gaps between opponents. Buckle up!

Vitor Petrino vs. Tyson Pedro - Light Heavyweight Division

Our second undefeated fighter in action this Saturday is Brazilian light heavyweight Vitor Petrino. The 26-year-old has a TKO win on the Contender Series and has already amassed three wins in a row fighting for the UFC. He is coming off a recent knockout win over Modestas Bukauskas that took place last November.

He takes on City Kickboxing’s Tyson Pedro, who holds black belts in both Brazilian and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu as well as Kempo karate. After losing to Modestas Bukauskas in early 2023, Pedro bounced back with a first-round KO win over Anton Turkalj at UFC 293.

Tyson Pedro will be the taller, longer, and more experienced fighter, but it should come as no surprise as the undefeated, rising prospect Vitor Petrino will enter the cage this Saturday as a -298 favorite.

Alex Perez vs. Muhammad Mokaev - Flyweight Division

Three undefeated fighters in a row? That’s right. At just 23 years old, Russia’s Muhammad Mokaev is already 11-0 in his professional career with five of those wins taking place in the UFC octagon.

Mokaev has won four of his five UFC bouts by submission and most recently tapped out Tim Elliott in the third round of their UFC 294 bout last October.

Alex Perez hasn’t had the same success lately, having lost his last two fights in the row to former champion Deiveson Figuieredo and current champion Alexandre Pantoja. Shorter in both height and reach, the number-seven-ranked flyweight Alex Perez has not fought since July 2022.

At -360, Mokaev is easily considered to be the favorite in this match-up and a dominant performance could see him crack the top-five rankings.

Eryk Anders vs. Jamie Pickett - Middleweight Division

Although neither of these fighters are undefeated, the trend of completely unbalanced odds continues as veteran fighter Eryk Anders - despite being 2-3 in his last five fights - is listed as a -425 over Jamie Pickett.

Although Anders has seen mixed success lately, it is Pickett who has lost four straight and is just 2-6 over his last eight performances.

Anders himself is also coming off of a loss, having been defeated via decision by Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 289 last June.

Despite being a heavy underdog in this fight, Pickett will try to make the most of his five-inch reach advantage over Anders.

Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Bekzat Almakhan - Bantamweight Division

Last but certainly not least on our list of undefeated fighters this weekend is the cousin of the great Khabib: Umar Nurmagomedov.

At 16-0, Nurmagomedov has a master of sport in Combat Sambo and has been hunting for a new opponent for more than a year now. He last fought in January 2023, where he knocked out Raoni Barcelos in the first round - earning a performance bonus.

He takes on Bezkat Almakhan, who - while riding a nine-fight winning streak - will be making his UFC debut this Saturday. Quite the bold move. However, only two of those nine wins went to decision and he technically has two more fights of professional experience than Nurmagomedov.

Regardless, it comes as no shock as the 16-0 Nurmagomedov comes in as the biggest betting favorite on the entire card: a whopping -1200 over Almakhan’s +750.

Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg - Flyweight Division

The main card will kick off with a battle between top-15 flyweights as number-nine-ranked Matt Schnell takes on number-12-ranked Steve Erceg.

Schnell is just 2-2 (with one no-contest) over his last five fights, having most recently been knocked out by Matheus Nicolau in December 2022. He missed all of 2023 and this will be his first fight of 2024.

Despite his reach advantage, his inactivity seems to be the major factor in Schnell being listed as the +260 underdog.

He takes on Steve Erceg, a fighter who has won his last ten straight and who has lost only once in his professional career. He is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Alessandro Costa that took place at UFC 295 last November.