Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Ciryl Gane slated for heavyweight showdown on March 13

A heavyweight clash between top-10 contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane has been booked for March 13, according to French publication La Seuer.

Gane, a former Muay Thai kickboxer, will enter this fight with the No. 7 spot in the UFC heavyweight rankings—a position he earned with a knockout of former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in his last fight. Prior to that, the Frenchman picked up wins over Tanner Boser, Don’Tale Mayes and Raphael Pessoa in his first three appearances in the Octagon. Before joining the UFC roster, he enjoyed a brief reign as the TKO heavyweight champion in Canada.

Rozenstruik, on the other hand, holds the No. 3 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. He will be Gane’s first top-5 foe. The Surinamese heavyweight contender, a Dutch style kickboxing specialist, is also riding a win over dos Santos, having knocked the former heavyweight champion out at UFC 252 in August. Prior to that, Rozenstruik suffered a brutal knockout loss at the hands of top contender Francis Ngannou. That setback was preceded by a perfect 9-0 start to his MMA career, highlighted by wins over Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski.

The March 13 card that this Rozenstruik vs. Gane fight has landed on does not yet have an official host city or venue, but will most likely go down in Las Vegas or on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The card is expected to be headlined by a welterweight scrap between No. 3-ranked contender Leon Edwards, and surging prospect Khamzat Chimaev. It’s also expected to feature an interesting fight between Jinh Yu Frey and Gloria de Paula, with many more matchups sure to be announced in the coming weeks.

See the current lineup for the March 13 card, with the addition of this Rozenstruik vs. Gane fight, below.

• Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane
• Davey Grant vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Matthew Semelsberger vs. Jason Witt
• Jinh Yu Frey vs. Gloria de Paula