Previously, a light heavyweight tilt pitting Anthony Smith against Johnny Walker had been slated as the card’s headliner, but the promotion on Tuesday announced Rozenstruik vs. Almeida as the evening’s featured bout. Additionally, Smith informed MMAFighting.com that he was told his fight was getting moved to the co-main event.
𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑽𝒀𝑾𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺 take center stage in Charlotte! 💥@JairRozenstruik and @Malhadinho_UFC will headline May 13th!
— UFC (@ufc) April 4, 2023
[ #UFCCharlotte | Sat. May 13 | @SpectrumCenter ] pic.twitter.com/pLgqkI9zVM
UFC Fight Night takes place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carollina, and is also expected to include a welterweight bout between Ian Garry and Daniel Rodriguez.
Rozenstruik snapped a two-bout skid in his last outing, when he knocked out Chris Daukaus in just 23 seconds at UFC 282 on Dec. 10. “Bigi Boy” is 7-4 during his promotional tenure, with all his victories coming inside the distance. He owns other notable victories over the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, and Junior dos Santos. Meanwhile, his losses have come to some of the heavyweight division’s best: Alexander Volkov, Curtis Blaydes, Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou.
Almeida earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series as a light heavyweight before stopping Danilo Marques in the opening stanza of their 205-pound bout at UFC Fight Night 200. Since then, however, “Maladhinho” has compiled three consecutive wins at heavyweight, stopping Parker Porter, Anton Turkalj and Shamil Abdurakhimov inside the distance.