Going into UFC on Fuel 8 the expectation was that the co-main event between Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt was not going to go the distance. It didn’t.
The end came much later in the fight than many would have speculated, but when it did come it was pretty spectacular, as the 5’ 10” Hunt overcame the huge difference in height and laid out the seven foot tall Struve with a right, left combination.
After Struve fell to his back Hunt turned around and walked off. However, referee Herb Dean had not waved the fight off yet. After that brief bit of confusion Hunt turned back and was moving back in, but Dean waved it off. Following the fight Struve tweeted the reason for Dean’s change in opinion on the stoppage:
The knockout was not only spectacular, it also earned Hunt a bit of extra cash as he took home “Knockout of the Night” honors for his effort.
The loss ended a four-fight winning streak for Struve and will most likely drop him from the UFC top ten rankings when the newest version is published in the next few days. Struve, being only 25-years-old, has plenty of time to learn to grow as a fighter if he uses this loss as a learning experience.
Struve really needs to work on using his height to his advantage, something he has not effectively done in his career. If he can do that he should be able to make a run back up the heavyweight rankings.
For now, as Struve stated on twitter, it’s a long trip back to Holland where he will get his jaw looked at:
We will most likely get an idea some time next week on how long this injury will keep the now 25-6 fighter on the shelf.
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