Jairzinho Rozenstruik releases first statement after ‘troubling’ stoppage in fight with Alexander Volkov

Jairzinho Rozenstruik definitely didn’t agree with referee Herb Dean’s decision to stop his fight against Alexander Volkov at UFC Vegas 56.

Dean waived off the fight after Volkov cracked Rozenstruik with a blistering right hand followed by a barrage of punches early in the first round in Saturday’s main event, leaving “Bigi Boy” wobbled and dropping to one knee while eating shots against the cage. While Rozenstruik essentially walked away from the stoppage, he was still absorbing a lot of blows in succession after the initial punch from Volkov that hurt him.

Either way, Rozenstruik had issues with Dean’s decision, as he explained in his first statement issued after the event was over.

“I’m kinda confused on how the fight went and I’m disappointed that it was stopped,” Rozenstruik said on Twitter. “It definitely was a troubling situation, but I was far from giving up the fight. Did someone lay flat on the ground with his eyes shut? That’s what we call a knockout.”

A wild exchange led to the finish after Rozenstruik unleashed a flurry of looping left and right hooks without any of the shots slipping through Volkov’s defense.

In return, the Russian threw a straight right down the middle — and that’s the punch that hurt Rozenstruik before the finishing sequence.

The 34-year-old fighter from Suriname felt like the action was just getting underway when Dean put an end to the contest, but he holds no ill will towards Volkov for just doing his job in the cage.

“Alexander and I basically just started exchanging some heavy strikes,” Rozenstruik said. “The stuff you all wanted to see! Big up to Alexander Volkov for taking the fight. I’ve no notable damage and I like to fight soon.”

With the stoppage, Rozenstruik suffered his third loss in his past four fights after also falling to ex-interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and Curtis Blaydes in recent decisions.

Undefeated through the first 10 fights in career, Rozenstruik now sports a 12-4 record overall as he seeks to get back on track when he returns to action in his next bout.