‘The Champions League of MMA’: UFC heavyweight Rozenstruik hails win after landing buzzer-beater shot for huge $50k KO (VIDEO)

UFC colossus Jairzinho Rozenstruik got his UFC heavyweight title ambitions back on track in Las Vegas on Saturday night, as he landed a last-second KO at the end of the first frame to ease past Brazil's Augusto Sakai.

The Surinam native, considered to be among the hardest-hitters in the UFC's heavyweight frame, proved that he is still a force amongst the promotion's big boys when he landed a clubbing right hand in the final seconds of the first round which sent Sakai crumbling to the canvas. 

Rozenstruik followed up with a series of shots on the ground, prompting referee Herb Dean to call off the bout with just a second remaining in the round.

It was the second 'buzzer-beater' knockout of Rozenstruik's UFC career after he earned a similar finish against fight veteran Alistair Overeem, finishing that particular scrap with just a second remaining in the final round.

With one second left in the first round, @JairRozenstruik closed the show with a KO ???? #UFCvegas28 pic.twitter.com/14qQmuHgcE

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 6, 2021

"As soon as I heard the clock...I faked him with the right, hit him with the left and dropped him with the right," explained Rozenstruik afterwards.

"I heard the clock and my coach saying 'this is the last 15 seconds'. So I picked up the pace and I saw he was moving too fast. Then 'pop' – I put him down. I knew it was done."

Rozenstruik's KO earned him further bragging rights in the UFC heavyweight fold, as well as an extra $50,000 performance bonus.

"Augusto Sakai and I are competing in the Champions League of mixed martial arts," Rozenstruik wrote online following his win. "You can't win every time. But today, nothing could hold me back. My team's game plan worked out perfectly."

The victory means that Rozenstruik has successfully rebounded from a disappointing decision defeat to Ciryl Gane in his last fight and comes little more than a year since he was resoundingly defeated by current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou by knockout 20-seconds into the first round of their fight last May. 

Another run at the upper echelon of the division now seems assured for Rozenstruik after his fierce knockout credentials were once again on display, but the KO artist doesn't quite mind who that might come against – so long as he is moving up the rankings.

"Right now, everybody that’s ranked above me makes sense,” Rozenstruik said when asked what is next for him.

"I’m coming for you guys. I’m coming."

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