Jairzinho Rozenstruik departed from the UFC in a pretty unceremonious manner after a lackluster outing against Russian juggernaut Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia. That fight didn’t really live up to the expectation, and Dana White was pretty vocal about his displeasure with the Surinamese national for producing a “boring” fight. But it seems like Rozenstruik is on the verge of bidding farewell to MMA after leaving the world’s biggest promotion in the sport, and instead, potentially going back to where it all began. The sport of kickboxing!

Getting cut from his contract after one boring fight might have been a bit too harsh on Dana White’s part. Before that clash, ‘Bigi Boy’ was on a steady 2-fight winning streak. However, Rozenstruik had been inconsistent since his loss to Francis Ngannou in 2020, suffering a terrifying knockout, but had a successful 2024, recording two wins out of his two outings. Having been on such a momentum, his performance came as a surprise to many people.

But the Surinamese heavyweight revealed that he unknowingly inhaled harmful gases due to some paint job being done inside the ANB Arena in Saudi Arabia, causing him to lose his equilibrium and even injure his foot pretty early during the fight. “I felt dizzy on Saturday due to the paint fumes. Then, just 70 seconds into the fight, I injured my left foot,” Jairzinho Rozenstruik stated in an Instagram post. ‘Bigi Boy’ is 37 years old now, and unlike some of the other former UFC fighters who joined the GFL to continue their MMA careers, Rozenstruik doesn’t seem too interested in following suit.

With a 15-6 record, Rozenstruik is reportedly looking to pause his MMA career for now to make his way back into kickboxing and sign with GLORY after having a chat with the matchmaker of the promotion, Robbie Trimmers. “Following Glory 99, matchmaker, Robbie Timmers told me that the promotion are in talks to sign Jairzinho Rozenstruik,” MMA journalist Jamie Theodosi reported via social media.

‘Bigi Boy’ has a pretty stellar record in kickboxing, with his record standing at 76 wins and 8 losses, and guess what? 64 of those wins came by knockout, so maybe he can replicate these numbers when he makes his way back into a kickboxing ring. Meanwhile, Dana White, after his UFC departure, revealed that he wasn’t aware of Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s UFC status. Here’s what he had to say!

Dana White’s comments on the surprise release of Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Jairzinho Rozenstruik had been a heavyweight mainstay in the UFC for a long time. Although he wasn’t as successful as some of the other fighters, he still won here and there. When the media put up questions regarding the Surinamese star’s sudden departure, Dana White responded by claiming that he did not personally deal with Rozenstruik’s contract. But it might have been the other execs who decided not to re-sign him.

“Yeah, I don’t [think he requested his release], he was either cut or not re-signed,” Dana White told the media at the UFC 312 presser. What do you think? Should the CEO have given Jairzinho Rozenstruik another chance? Nevertheless, ‘Bigi Boy’ mentioned that he’s “ready for whatever comes next” in his statement after his last UFC fight.

It will be interesting to see if Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s decision to leave MMA and go back to kickboxing pays dividends. After all, most people would agree that he might have a few more years to be competing at the top level. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.