Rosholt fighting in Big Apple on New Year's Eve

NEW YORK CITY — Former Sandpoint wrestler Jared “The Big Show” Rosholt will make his World Series of Fighting debut on New Year’s Eve in New York City, when he enters the Octagon against Caio Alencar in a heavyweight MMA fight in the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The 30 year-old heavyweight put together a 6-2 record in the UFC, but was controversially dropped from the roster after a loss to Roy Nelson in February, a defeat which snapped a three-fight win streak.

Rosholt, who won a state title at Sandpoint before moving to Oklahoma after his older brother Jake Rosholt signed with Oklahoma State, was an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State and is still considered a rising star in the MMA heavyweight ranks.

Boasting a 14-3 professional record, Rosholt will look to get some momentum going when he takes on the dangerous Alencar (9-1) on the undercard of a night featuring four title fights. Rosholt’s fight will be televised on the NBC Sports Network starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Rosholt will be looking to take the belt from the current champion in the division, Blagoy Ivanov, a man who holds a black belt in judo, an International Master of Sport rank in combat sambo and owns a win over the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in combat sambo competition.

In UFC, Rosholt rolled to five decision wins and one finish via strikes. His list of victims included Walt Harris, Daniel Omielanczuk, Soa Palelei, Josh Copeland, Timothy Johnson and Stefan Struve. Most of these guys stand at the fringes of the UFC’s top 15, which features a lot more talent than the WSOF has on its roster.

Alencar, a 38-year-old Brazilian who won a Shooto Brazil heavyweight championship, does have four prior wins via strikes and an additional five submission finishes — but he’s making his first trip to the United States for his first true big-show appearance.

Alencar trained with MMA star Chael Sonnen in Oregon recently. After meeting the three-time UFC title contender, his life changed. Not only has Sonnen helped him resume his MMA career, he’s also helping the Brazilian heavyweight evolve as a mixed martial artist.

“There are a lot of big guys here,” Alencar said. “I help Sonnen with his jiu-jitsu and he helps me with wrestling. He also put his boxing coach to help me train, too.”

Rosholt is eight years younger than Alencar, and his wrestling-based game, while not always thrilling to MMA fans, was very effective in the cage. Alencar welcomes the opportunity to take on an opponent with Rosholt’s resume.

“It’s fantastic,” Alencar said of facing a UFC veteran. “But I think he has an obvious game. He does the same thing all the time. It’s a good match-up for me. If we go to the ground, I’ll try to finish him the entire time. I’m going there to catch him. But my idea is to stand and brawl with him. I like a good brawl.”