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UFC fans have been left baffled by the promotion's brutal axing of heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

The Surinamese slugger was in octagon action last Saturday against former training partner Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night 250 in Saudi Arabia.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Sergei Pavlovich boxing in a UFC match.
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Jairzinho Rozenstruik locked horns with Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night 250 last weekendCredit: REX
Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname preparing for a UFC fight.
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The Surinamese slugger was cut from the roster after suffering a decision defeatCredit: GETTY
UFC CEO Dana White at a press conference.
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His axing comes days after UFC bigwig Dana White branded the fight "horrible"Credit: GETTY

The pair's Saudi showdown didn't live up to its billing, with Pavlovich edging an uneventful affair via unanimous decision.

And Rozenstruik has paid the price for a lacklustre display by losing his spot on the roster - as well as dropping a decision.

It emerged on Monday that the former kickboxer has been cut from the promotion, despite having won two of his last three outings.

MMA fans were left gobsmacked, with one writing on X: "Genuinely insane."

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Another said: "Not my 'Bigi Boi.'"

And another said: "Did the UFC forget how good Pavlovich is? Getting cut off an L to Pav is CRAZY WORK."

One remarked: "Cutting one of the only competent heavyweights."

Another chimed in: "This is wild considering the state of the heavyweight division RN."

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The post-fight comments of UFC president and CEO Dana White quickly circulated on social media after news of Rozenstruik's departure.

When asked for his thoughts on the contest, White, 55, said: “Horrible, horrible fight.

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“Listen, we can say the fight sucked, but Sergei won.

"It wasn’t pretty; it wasn’t fun to watch and it was the only fight all night to get booed.”

Interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall was similarly unimpressed, writing on social media: "These heavyweight fights lately absolutely stink.

";Let’s get some excitement back and stop holding it up."

The UFC returns to pay-per-view action early on Sunday morning with UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia.

Topping the bill is a middleweight title rematch between current and former champions Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland.

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