He chased his words with a chuckle, clearly joking, but also showing that despite a two-year stretch with more losses than victories, his focus, drive, and desire to get better has not been diminished.
For Rozenstruik, everything is about the journey, and enjoying each step along the way, even if that means going backwards every once in a while.
“Fighting in the UFC or the bigger platforms in combat sports, the ups and downs tell us the things we have to learn along the way, the things we have to add to our style,” said the former professional kickboxer. “Nobody likes to have setbacks, but sometimes it’s just the thing to push you forward and to see what can make you better.
“If I didn’t make those mistakes, I would probably have the same style; I would be just a striker. But now, we can do takedowns, stuff takedowns, be on the ground, get out of submissions; any position.
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Rozenstruik
“The journey has been awesome and I’m looking forward to more.”
The one piece Rozenstruik doesn’t like, however, is when he’s forced to stay on the sidelines for too long.
Saturday’s bout with Volkov marks the longest “Bigi Boy” has gone between appearances since arriving in the UFC — a layoff of eight months and change brought on by a proposed February bout with Marcin Tybura getting pushed back to early April before it was cancelled the day before the contest when the Polish veteran was forced to withdraw with an undisclosed illness.
While some don’t mind a little down time between appearances in order to let their body heal and work on skill development, Rozenstruik would much rather keep things moving and rest after he’s got two or three appearances in the books each year.
