Brendan Schaub advises Jairzinho Rozenstruik to move down to light-heavyweight following defeat: “He will never be champ”

Brendan Schaub believes UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik should move down.

‘Bigi Boy’ was in action last Saturday night at UFC Vegas 56 against Alexander Volkov. Rozenstruik was TKO’d just minutes into the first round against the Russian. However, he would later protest the stoppage on social media.

Early stoppage or not, it was his fourth loss in his last six contests. After starting off 10-0, including wins over Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem, Rozenstruik has badly struggled. His first career loss came at the hands of Francis Ngannou at UFC 249, and the 34-year-old has struggled to put the pieces back together ever since.

Brendan Schaub believes that Jairzinho Rozenstruik could use a change of pace. On The Schaub Show, the fighter-turned-podcaster suggested the heavyweight contender move down in weight. While he’s never fought at light-heavyweight, Schaub believes Rozenstruik should give it a try if he wants to win a championship.

Image via My MMA News (photographer not listed)

“Rozenstruik will never be champ, not happening for him. Too small, not enough tools to compete in the top-five really, unless it’s a straight-up fisticuffs, throwing caution to the wind, throwing from the hips. Then, he has the technique and he’s quick enough to get it done. But you look at his record, when he fights the upper echelon guys, he’s not winning those. He’s lost to Volkov, lost to Curtis Blaydes, lost to Ciryl Gane, he beat older Junior dos Santos and got molly whopped by Francis [Ngannou].”

Brendan Schaub continued, “I do think if you look at Rozenstruik’s body, there is potential for him to cut down to 205. He’s too small at heavyweight to compete with the big boys. His fundamentals aren’t there, his speed’s not there, his power is there. But, outside of that, he’s just going to get annihilated by those top guys… He could [move down to light-heavyweight], or he can just stay what he’s doing. You might be a top ten guy, but you’re never cracking the top five again.”

What do you think about Brendan Schaub’s comments about Jairzinho Rozenstruik? Sound off in the comments below!