Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev to headline UFC Vegas 87 next month

The first heavyweight main event of 2024 is set for the UFC’s octagon.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that the scheduled bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev will serve as the headliner for UFC Vegas 87, which takes place March 2 at the UFC APEX. Eurosport was first to report the news.

The event was originally slated to take place in Saudi Arabia before the promotion’s debut was postponed to June.

Rozenstruik will make his 13th octagon appearance and looks to bounce back from a main event submission loss to Jailton Almeida at UFC Charlotte this past May. “Bigi Boi” is 1-3 in his past four outings, which includes a 23 second knockout win over Chris Daukaus at UFC 282 in December 2022.

Gaziev gets his first main event slot in just his second UFC bout. The 33-year-old has finished all 12 of his pro bouts, and has yet to see a third round, which includes a second-round standing TKO win over Martin Buday in his octagon debut at December’s UFC 296 event.