Despite his requests for a fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, “TUF 10″ finalist Brendan Schaub (7-1) will instead face another giant heavyweight in Dutch fighter Stefan “The Skyscraper” Struve (21-4).
News of the bout surfaced on Monday afternoon through Sportsnet.ca reporter Joe Ferraro who confirmed the bout through a source close to the fight. The source told him that the bout would take place on the March 3rd event, UFC on Versus 3 which airs live from Louisville, Kentucky.
Schaub has won three straight in the UFC since losing at the “TUF” finale to teammate Roy “Big Country” Nelson in December of 2009. Since that loss he’s gone on to score victories over Chase Gormley at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones, Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 116, and Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121.
Struve just finished competing at UFC 124 where he won easily over Sean McCorkle in the nights co-main event. It was the fifth UFC win for Struve as he improves to 5-2. The Dutch fighter has won two in a row now since his loss to Nelson in March, having earned the “Knockout of the Night” honor after coming back from a first round pummeling at the hands of Christian Morecraft at UFC 117.
UFC on Versus 3 has not been officially announced, will likely be headlined by a UFC welterweight match between Digo Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann. Fans can expect the Schaub vs. Struve fight to co-anchor the show as the co-main event.