Stefan Struve celebrated his 25th birthday on Friday, one day before what was supposed to be his biggest win for his young UFC Heavyweight career. And he knew his matchup with Mark Hunt was going to be a big one, because a win would put him one step closer to a championship fight. In fact, Struve even said this prior to his co-main event match on UFC on FUEL TV 8 in Japan:
“It’s going to be another step to the belt, in my opinion,” Struve said in explaining the benefits of topping Hunt this weekend. “With five wins in a row, I think I have a good bid for being one of the top contenders in the division. Perhaps I’ll earn a title shot at the end of the year.”
That would have been awesome, considering his young age and unique size at 7-feet tall, because the Heavyweight division could certainly use some new blood and personality. That would have been awesome. Would have.
Unfortunately, Struve’s grand scheme hit a minor snag in the form of a left hook from Hunt that looked like this…
