Two Days After Knockout Win, Rozenstruik Agrees to Face Overeem at UFC on ESPN 7

After vanquishing Andrei Arlovski in just 29 seconds at UFC 244, Jairzinho Rozenstruik said he was ready to get in another Octagon appearance before the conclusion of 2019.

The Suriname native will get his wish, as he has agreed to step in for Walt Harris and face Alistair Overeem in the UFC on ESPN 7 headliner on Dec. 7. ESPN.com was first to report the new heavyweight contest. Harris withdrew from the bout to devote his full attention to the search for his missing stepdaughter.

UFC on ESPN 7 takes place at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and also features a key women’s bantamweight tilt between Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Rozenstruik earned the most significant victory of his career when he knocked out Arlovski with a left hook at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Prior to that, “Bigi Boy” began his UFC career with KO/TKO triumphs against Junior Albini and Allen Crowder. The 31-year-old is 9-0 as a professional, with all but one of his victories coming via knockout or technical knockout.

Overeem enters the matchup riding the momentum of back-to-back first-round TKO wins over Sergei Pavlovich and Alexey Oleynik in his last two promotional appearances. A former Strikeforce champion and UFC title challenger, the 39-year-old Dutchman is 10-6 during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based organization and 45-17 with one no contest as a professional overall.