One-half of the UFC Fight Night 238 main event apparently had an eye issue between rounds, and referee Marc Goddard sensed something was up.
A conversation ensued, clouded by a language barrier, but Goddard maneuvered through it and waved off the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds to give [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] (14-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) a TKO win over the favored [autotag]Shamil Gaziev[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
According to the broadcast, Gaziev indicated he was having trouble seeing, though the cause of that issue isn’t entirely clear.
Following a strong start, Gaziev ate a tremendous amount of jabs throughout the 20 minutes that caused notable damage and bleeding from his nose. Gaziev continued to press the action despite his lack of success.
But Rozenstruik grew stronger as the fight progressed. Just prior to the stoppage, Rozenstruik had his best flurry of the fight as he upped the ante in an attack on Gaziev.
This fight has been stopped at the end of the 4th round
Gaziev can't continue, @JairRozenstruik wins via TKO #UFCVegas87 pic.twitter.com/PbVZP4Cvnc
— UFC (@ufc) March 2, 2024
Suriname’s Rozenstruik, 35, gets back in the win column and moves to 2-1 in his most recent three outings.
Going into the fight, Gaziev was a relative unknown with only one UFC appearance, a TKO win over Martin Buday, under his belt.
The heavyweight bout took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 238 results include:
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Shamil Gaziev via TKO (injury) – Round 4, 5:00
- Vitor Petrino def. Tyson Pedro via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Alex Perez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Umar Nurmagomedov def. Bekzat Almakhan via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
- Stephen Erceg def. Matt Schnell via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:26
- Eryk Anders def. Jamie Pickett via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Vinicius Oliveira def. Bernardo Sopaj via knockout (flying knee) – Round 3, 4:41
- Aiemann Zahabi def. Javid Basharat via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Christian Duncan def. Claudio Ribeiro via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:57
- Ludovit Klein def. A.J. Cunningham via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:36
- Loik Radzhabov def. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 0:49
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 238.