“That’s my real power source. Going back to Suriname, lay down in the river, get my power,” said Jairzinho Rozenstruik in his conversation with the media back in April this year. The 12th-ranked heavyweight fighter has been struggling to be at the top of the rankings but his recent victories have propelled him ahead of some of his competitors. Regardless, the 36-year-old is looking to get back to consecutive winning columns.

Af͏ter͏ his͏ last͏ c͏la͏sh agai͏n͏͏͏st Sh͏am͏il ͏Gaziev,͏͏ ͏the Paramaribo native is confid͏ent ͏͏about͏ his͏ u͏pcoming ma͏͏tch͏es͏͏.͏ ͏͏W͏e know͏ quite ͏a ͏b͏it ͏about ͏Rozenst͏ru͏ik’͏s c͏areer reco͏r͏ds͏, b͏͏ut͏ w͏͏e seld͏om ͏͏hear͏ about th͏e ͏origin͏ ͏of hi͏s ͏n͏ic͏͏knam͏e, ͏͏”͏Bigi Boy.͏” ͏L͏et͏’s take͏ a loo͏k a͏͏t ͏wh͏y t͏he͏͏ ͏S͏u͏ri͏n͏amese͏ fi͏ghte͏r͏ i͏s kn͏own a͏s “B͏i͏͏gi Boy.͏”͏

Jairzinho Rozenstruik explains his nickname ‘Bigi Boy’

Born and raised in Paramaribo, Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s parents were soccer enthusiasts. The heavyweight star was named after a pretty famous soccer player back in the day named Jair Filho. Well, it’s palpable that ‘Bigi Boy’ also played soccer and basketball growing up and that’s where his nickname came up. Confused? According to Rozenstruik, people had a very difficult time accurately pronouncing his name so his friends started to call him ‘Bigi Boy’ and since then it has become his moniker even in his fights.

“The nickname ‘Bigi Boy,’ I’ve got since I was a child, like when I was 9 or 11,” said Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a conversation with the media. He further added, “I was playing basketball, and not everybody knew how to pronounce my name, so when I used to take a shot, they would say, ‘Hey, you. Make the ball, ‘Bigi Boy.’ And from that day, everybody started calling me ‘Bigi Boy,’ and still to this day. Everywhere I go, everyone is like, ‘How do you pronounce your name?’ So if you call me ‘Bigi Boy,’ that’s OK.”

Even Rozenstruik has difficulty pronouncing his name in Portuguese, as the native language of Suriname is Dutch. Now that we know about the origins of his nickname, let us have a look at some of the unknown facts about the fighter.

Other unknown facts about Rozenstruik

Jairzi͏nh͏o Ro͏zenstru͏ik’s name isn’͏t the only interesting thing about him. Most of ͏͏his early life was spen͏t͏ playing with friends͏ ͏and͏ t͏rai͏n͏ing. Inte͏res͏t͏͏i͏ngl͏͏y, ͏’Bigi͏ Boy’ never͏ ͏in͏iti͏ally wanted to ͏p͏ursue M͏MA, bu͏t͏ he ͏found ͏himself͏ d͏raw͏n to i͏t as͏ he grew͏ older. ͏He b͏egan trai͏ning ͏in kic͏k͏bo͏x͏ing at the age͏ o͏f se͏v͏e͏nteen.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik has an impressive kickboxing record, with a total of 76 wins. Notably, 64 of those victories came by knockout. It must be noted that the fighter has the record of the second-fastest knockout in UFC’s history. He achieved this feat by knocking out Allen Crowder in UFC Fight Night 154. Another interesting fact about the fighter is that ‘Bigi Boy’s net worth now floats around $1 million to $5 million despite coming from a very humble background.

What’s your take on Jairzinho Rozenstruik as a fighter? State your thoughts in the comments below.