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“The Skyscraper” has put his retirement on hold to face Ben Rothwell at UFC Washington.
After his win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima in February at UFC Prague, Stefan Struve took off his gloves and left them in the Octagon, although his retirement was not 100%. Now, the Dutchman will return to face Ben Rothwell at UFC Washington in December.
The UFC officially announced the news on Tuesday via social media. Struve’s return comes just six months after his last fight, meanwhile Rothwell has fought twice this year since returning from a two-year USADA suspension stemming from a failed test in 2017.
Struve (29-11) rebounded off of three straight losses by submitting de Lima with an arm-triangle choke to win a $50,000 bonus at UFC Prague. “The Skyscraper” was diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve and an enlarged heart in 2013, and after his win in February he cited his condition not being “100 percent” for his decision to retire.
Rothwell (36-12) is currently on the worst losing streak of his MMA career, losing his last three UFC fights. Returning this year from his suspension, he lost decisions to Blagoy Ivanov and most recently Andrei Arlovski. Before his ban, he lost a one-sided decision to former champion Junior Dos Santos.
Capital One Arena in Washington DC is expected to host UFC on ESPN 7, which takes place on December 7th. A women’s bantamweight fight between Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya and a strawweight fight between Claudia Gadelha vs. Cynthia Calvillo was recently announced for the card.