Junior Albini now faces undefeated newcomer Jair Rozenstruik at UFC Fortaleza

MMAfighting.com

Junior Albini has a new opponent for UFC Fortaleza.

The Brazilian heavyweight was slated to meet Dmitriy Sosnovskiy on Feb. 2 in Fortaleza, Brazil, but his opponent has been changed to Jair Rozenstruik, sources confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report by DWT.

Albini (14-4) had an impressive start in the UFC in 2017, finishing Timothy Johnson in less than three minutes.“Baby” went on to lose a decision to former champion Andrei Arlovski in his following bout and tapped to an ezekiel choke against Alexey Oleinik last May. Albini finished 12 opponents in 14 professional victories.

Rozenstruik (6-0) competed once inside the Rizin ring in 2018, defeating previously unbeaten Andrey Kovalev via split decision in the first and only time he needed more than a round to win a MMA fight.

“Jairzinho”, who holds a record of 76-6 with 64 knockouts in kickboxing, competed in MMA for the last time on Dec. 27, knocking out his opponent in just 10 seconds in his home country of Suriname.

UFC Fortaleza takes place at the Centro de Formação Olímpica in Fortaleza, Ceara, and airs live on ESPN+. A bantamweight rematch between Raphael Assuncao and Marlon Moraes headlines the card.

Raphael Assuncao vs. Marlon Moraes
Jose Aldo vs. Renato Moicano
Demian Maia vs. Lyman Good
Thiago Alves vs. Max Griffin
Markus Perez vs. Anthony Hernandez
Livia Renata Souza vs. Sarah Frota
Johnny Walker vs. Justin Ledet
Ricardo Ramos vs. Said Nurmagomedov
Junior Albini vs. Jair Rozenstruik
Rogério Bontorin vs. Magomed Bibulatov
Mara Romero Borella vs. Taila dos Santos