News of a heavyweight matchup broke this afternoon pitting the 6′11″ Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve (21-4) against Travis Browne (10-0-1) as part of the upcoming UFC 130 event.
MMAjunkie.com confirmed the news, noting that both fighters have agreed to the fight verbally but no contracts have been signed as of yet.
Struve appeared last month in Montreal in the co-main event of UFC 124 having earned a first round TKO victory over internet trash talker Sean McCorkle. It was Struve’s second in a row and his fifth win in six bouts putting his UFC record at 5-2. Before his win at UFC 124, he appeared at last August’s UFC 117 event against Christian Morecraft. Morecraft dominated Struve in the first with some vicious ground-and-pound but was unable to put him away. In the second “The Skyscraper” was able to KO Morecraft in just 22 seconds to win the fight and to earn the “Knockout of the Night” bonus.
Meanwhile his opponent Browne, will put his undefeated streak on the line against Struve. He is currently 1-0-1 in the UFC, having appeared in the octagon against Cheick Kongo in October at UFC 120. The fight with Kongo was a bit of a lackluster affair and ended in a draw after Kongo had a point deducted in the third for holding onto the shorts. He debuted against James McSweeney at the “TUF 11 Finale” earning a first round TKO win.
UFC 130 is not official as-of-yet but is expected to take place on May 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The only other bout currently in the works for the event is a welterweight match between Thiago Alves and Rick Story.