We don’t know about you, but there are so many UFC events being strewn across so many different channels these days that we are starting to forget some of them even exist until about a week out. It’s not something we’re complaining about, but by a show of hands, how many of you realized that UFC on FUEL 8 is going down this weekend in Japan? Well, it is, and it features a headlining fight between Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva that all of the world’s leading scientists have predicted will end inside of three rounds.
Scheduled just one fight before Stann vs. Silva, however, is a heavyweight contest that shines a spotlight on two of the division’s most unexpected rising stars: Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve. After suffering brutal knockout defeats at the hands of Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, and Travis Browne, many MMA pundits were content to write off Struve as an upper-level gatekeeper who simply wasn’t title-contender material and probably never would be. However, following his most recent TKO victory over the then-undefeated prospect in Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5, Struve established himself as a legitimate threat in the heavyweight division, one who would make his case for a future title shot with a win this weekend.
But perhaps no fighter in the UFC possesses a greater comeback story than Hunt, who saw his career resurrected in the UFC following a six fight losing streak between 2006-2010. In the time since, Hunt has collected three straight wins in the octagon and even survived a fight with Cheick Kongo with both testicles intact. Despite his introverted nature, “The Super Samoan” has become an inspirational figure if there ever was one, and that inspiration takes center stage in the latest UFC on FUEL 8 promo.
We’ve placed the video above, so check it out and let us know if Hunt’s inspirational story will somehow help him overcome the 12.5 inch reach disadvantage he will be facing against the 6’11” Struve this weekend. My guess is it won’t, but where inspiration oft fails, an atomic butt drop usually succeeds.
–J. Jones
We don’t know about you, but there are so many UFC events being strewn across so many different channels these days that we are starting to forget some of them even exist until about a week out. It’s not something we’re complaining about, but by a show of hands, how many of you realized that UFC on FUEL 8 is going down this weekend in Japan? Well, it is, and it features a headlining fight between Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva that all of the world’s leading scientists have predicted will end inside of three rounds.
Scheduled just one fight before Stann vs. Silva, however, is a heavyweight contest that shines a spotlight on two of the division’s most unexpected rising stars: Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve. After suffering brutal knockout defeats at the hands of Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, and Travis Browne, many MMA pundits were content to write off Struve as an upper-level gatekeeper who simply wasn’t title-contender material and probably never would be. However, following his most recent TKO victory over the then-undefeated prospect in Stipe Miocic at UFC on FUEL 5, Struve established himself as a legitimate threat in the heavyweight division, one who would make his case for a future title shot with a win this weekend.
But perhaps no fighter in the UFC possesses a greater comeback story than Hunt, who saw his career resurrected in the UFC following a six fight losing streak between 2006-2010. In the time since, Hunt has collected three straight wins in the octagon and even survived a fight with Cheick Kongo with both testicles intact. Despite his introverted nature, “The Super Samoan” has become an inspirational figure if there ever was one, and that inspiration takes center stage in the latest UFC on FUEL 8 promo.
We’ve placed the video above, so check it out and let us know if Hunt’s inspirational story will somehow help him overcome the 12.5 inch reach disadvantage he will be facing against the 6’11″ Struve this weekend. My guess is it won’t, but where inspiration oft fails, an atomic butt drop usually succeeds.
–J. Jones