Jairzinho Rozenstruik has wasted no time in calling out Curtis Blaydes following his first-round demolition of Augusto Sakai at the UFC Apex.
Fighting out of Paramaribo, Suriname, Rozenstruik (12-2) returned to winning ways for the first time in almost a year after flooring his rival in the final few seconds of the first round on Saturday night.
Blaydes (14-3, 1 NC) last fought in February, where he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 185. The 30-year-old, No. 4 in the promotion's rankings, does not currently have a fight booked.
Speaking after the fight, Rozenstruik said he would welcome the chance to fight fellow top-ranked 265-pounder Blaydes in his next outing.
The 33-year-old is eyeing up an eventual shot at the heavyweight title - currently held by his former foe Francis Ngannou.
"I mean that’s a name, he [Blaydes] was asking for this fight for a long time," Rozenstruik said to ESPN. "If he wants it and he’s ready, let’s go. I mean, he’s ranked above me.
"I’m looking there for my space back in the top-three, pulling back into title contention.
"So if that fight is going to bring me there, I’m on it."
Rozenstruik expressed satisfaction with his overall performance, saying: "I feel really great. It feels great. This is what we'd been working on, it played out the way we wanted, it feels good.
"That was really the plan, I said it before, I wanted to be the first guy, I wanted to be moving forwards, and put him going backwards.
"I saw in a couple of his fights, he doesn't like to fight backwards, so I take advantage of that, and he made the mistake, so I dropped him."
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