UFC Fight Night 21: Roy Nelson vs Stefan Struve on tap for March 31
by James Iannotti on Jan 14, 2010 9:34 PM EST
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A heavyweight battle between the division's tallest fighter on the UFC roster, Stephan "Skyscraper" Struve (19-3,) and perhaps its most rotund, Roy "Big Country" Nelson (14-4,) is in the works for UFC Fight Night 21 in North Carolina on March 31.
The event, which will mark the second of three scheduled events for the promotion in a two-week span, will serve as the lead-in to season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter" (TUF), which will debut on Spike TV immediately after.
"Big Country" -- a six year mixed martial arts veteran and former International Fight League (IFL) champion with a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie -- recently took his biggest step toward making a name for himself in the sport.
Nelson smashed fellow TUF 10 finalist Brendan Shaub via first round knockout in the finale of the 16-man tournament-style mixed martial arts reality series. The 33-year-old Las Vegas resident eliminated the infamous Miami street brawler, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, Justin Wren and talented striker James McSweeney to punch his ticket to the final match.
He also holds a first round technical knockout win over Brad Imes (former TUF finalist) on his distinguished resume.
Struve is a 6'11" fighter from the Netherlands who specializes in using his long limbs to submit his opponents, as evidenced by his 74 percentcareer rate of finish by tapout, seven of which have been triangles.
The lanky Dutchman has put together a solid record (3-1) since joining the UFC a year ago, defeating Paul Buentello (majority decision), Case Gormley (submission) and Denis Stojnic (submission), while falling to one of the division's top contenders, Junior Dos Santos, in his promotional debut.
This is an interesting battle because both men have excellent grappling skills, and the way they match up physically (short and fat vs. tall and lanky) is going to make for some interesting strategy from both sides.
No other bouts have been revealed for UFC Fight Night 21 at this time. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.
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Soo Excited....
Can’t wait for the UFC to finally come back to North Carolina. Just waiting for tix and I’m there
The only reason I can think of is that Fisher isn’t a top-flight fighter. He’s good, but Dana only goes out of his way like that for his top guys like GSP and the Canadians, Franklin and Rampage.
The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful
well, he did bring back Elvis Sinosic for the Austrailia card...
but that may be just for international reasons…
AND he is the King of Rock 'n Rumble!!!!!!
If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I'd probably just start calling out letters.
by ViolentMike on Jan 15, 2010 11:32 AM EST up reply actions
perhaps its most rotund?
lets just come right out and call this fat f**er what he is.
Oh man
Struve’s one of my favorite guys to watch so I can’t wait. Still curious as to where this will be since I’ve heard the Bobcats have a home game in Charlotte that night. Maybe Greensboro? Please?
not toooo shabby of a fight.
Should be similar to the paul/sturve fight , I expect Roy to take it tho, he’s a lil more verse on the ground and if gets in trouble with the stand up, i see him trying to finish sturve like he did mcsweeny and slice
pwilson
Nelson UD
"Matt Hughes and his brother used to pound each other out behind the barn."
-The legendary Mike Goldberg
yup
Struve barely beat Buentello, who isn’t anywhere close to Roy on the ground and his hands aren’t as good either.
pretty much sums it up.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Jan 14, 2010 11:16 PM EST up reply actions
~
i like this match-up..
i don’t think roy will be able to get struve down, so we wont have to see a boring lay & pray.. roy should not even feel the need either and he sould be content with banging it out..
struve isn’t better in the stand up, but i doubt he will want to take the chance of being ‘belly smothered’, so hopefully he will use his reach and keep it on the feet… that said, struve isn’t the worst striker either and imo does have a good chance at landing that punch.. as long as he maps a good gameplan out and stays with it -imo this is his fight to win.. use the reach & kicks to keep a gap, watch for the take down and time a good combo..
i am the mighty tighty whitey and im smuggling plums!~
by stinky~fingers on Jan 15, 2010 7:45 AM EST up reply actions
I was not impressed at all with Struve's defensive wrestling.
And with his ridiculous height, it’s gonna be hard trying to swim for underhooks while the majority of your torso is very much exposed for body locks. Chase Gormley was able to put him on his back so i don’t think Big Country will have any issues there. Not to mention, struve likes jumping/pulling guard. If he pulls Roy over him and tries to work from there, Roy will simply take his time in working for position for the UD.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Jan 15, 2010 8:06 AM EST up reply actions
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im not saying i think struve IS going to win.. im sayin he could win it if he plays it smart..
struve is very young and i think he lets the gameplan drift away during fights..
fat country is slow and predictable with his takedowns.. struve has to keep a gap and not clinch.. big country gets his takedowns from the clinch..
timed kicks will keep a good distance.. struve can’t be stupid with this fight or nelson is going to put that belly on him..
i am the mighty tighty whitey and im smuggling plums!~
by stinky~fingers on Jan 15, 2010 8:57 AM EST up reply actions
Good fight
Smart match-up, Nelson is for real and deserves a top opponent whilst Struve has looked great since JDS smashed him. I think Nelson will be too much for Struve standing as he has proven KO power and Struve doesn’t have very good striking, he needs to find a top muai thai or kickboxing gym in Holland so that he can learn how to use his reach to his advantage. I’d love to see them battle it out on the ground as they are both excellent grapplers and I’d like to see how Nelson would deal with Struve’s long limbs and Struve would deal with the size of Nelson on top. I’ve got Nelson by KO but I’m hoping for a close, competetive fight on the ground.
"Wanderlei is focused and well trained...he will easily win this fight, by a large margin and with much better technique."
Anderson Silva on why Wand is going to smash Bisping. Get ready to lose your dignity frosnt.
i'd like to not see a flab smothering crusafix..
i have no love for fat country..hope the tall lanky boy busts a move on tubby..
I have nothing against the guy. He’s entertaining. I really like Struve and all his potential, but I think he’s still 2-3 years away from being a real force in the division.
The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful
i agree with you there Dubs.
Struve has potential, and, as David said, if he can get with a good kickboxing gym, then he’ll only get better. If he doesn’t already, I think he should find Semmy Schilt (sp?) and train with him.
Oh ya, Nelson by KO.
He trains maily with eye gouge specialist dirty bob schrieber
but i believe he was spending a lot of time at mike’s gym in holland before it burned down. You don’t get a much better gym for kickboxing than mike’s.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Jan 15, 2010 9:28 AM EST up reply actions
i agree..
i did not say he would beat roy…but i could hope..lol..and my only problem with rob is that he refuses to get fit..he is a good fighter, but imagine if he lost some flab and got in shape..he would be more exciting..
i do see the potential in the sky scraper kid..he is young but hopefully nothing but getting better for him.
Unless struve somehow learns to use his reach...
he brings nothing to this fight where he has the advantage. He still needs to add more mass to his frame IMO.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Jan 14, 2010 11:18 PM EST up reply actions
WAR BIG COUNTRY
I don’t Nelson will let this go for three rounds. He takes the lanky Struve to the ground and I just don’t see Struve getting back up or handling him there. Though I gotta admit I have only seen two fights from Struve and I don’t know anything about his guard or bjj..
big country by suffocation crucifix.
i’d put money on it.
by Conan the Barbarian on Jan 15, 2010 12:54 AM EST reply actions
BobShamrock RIP
off topic i know but did you hear Ken and Franks father died
Nice work lester
priceless
"You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who makes people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea."
by Buster Bluth on Jan 15, 2010 7:50 AM EST up reply actions
That is awesome.
Good work Lester.
"He#s the WWE champ and with out a doubt should be ranked higher than any other man in the UFC. "-Puck Head, LOL.
Haha that’s brilliant…that being said I got Struve in this
by irishlilpete on Jan 15, 2010 8:14 AM EST via mobile reply actions
winning tuff so what
Winning the tuff show is like having the longest penis at a chinese buffet. The guys on the tuff show suck. I can’t believe two of them train with the same camp as rashad and suck that bad on the ground. McSweeny is not a good striker either. He kicks people with the top of his foot. If anyone ever blocked one with there knee or elbow it would break his foot in 3 places. Shaub sucks too, open door punches, no head movement….where do they get these guys for the show? Why not require a few years of trainning oh that’s right these guys had a few years yet still didn’t know basic jiu-jitsu or boxing.
North Carolina dominates the amatures in jiu-jitsu. Team ROC out of NC and Gustavo Machado’s team out of Virgina dominate the East Coast getting 1st and 2nd every time yet Dana has never taken a fighter from either into UFC. Why? It’ all about the big money camps out west.
i got struve
mainly becasue nelson really don’t impress me, who has he beaten? the guys on the show were a joke! yeah roy is a IFL champ but look what happend to big ben he got dominated and IMO has a more impressive resume than roy
i don’t see nelson lasting very long in the ufc
Jeff Monson?
He got screwed out of both his monson and arlovski fights. He won the monson one and idiot (and possibly bribed) ref Jorge Ortiz stood him up against Arlovski from side control. The man definitely has skills but i don’t think he’ll be able to beat the top 4 guys there.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Jan 15, 2010 9:30 AM EST reply actions
Yeah I agree NNR
Roy is no bum, he might not be able to crack the top five but he could have good battles win or lose against guys like GG, Kongo, Yvel, Herring. Struve causes many problems with his height and reach but roy will try and get this one to the ground if he can? Roy is the best fighter in MMA to be put on the show as far as experience and rank go. He will also have the experience factor over Struve. But Struve is looking better and better every fight Roy will be his biggest test as far as all around fighter goes.
"He broke tim sylvia’s arm…...So what?" – Brock Lesnar
Watch Nelson vs. Mir on Youtube
I think it’s the World Grappling something or other….anyway, I was really impressed with Roy’s ability. He controlled Mir pretty much the entire match. I give this fight to Nelson, both stand up and ground.
I don't know about stand up
Struves reach advantage will be to much, I can see him getting some knee shots in too against a much shorter Roy but that could equal going to the ground were struve would only want to be there if he was on top. Wasn’t Struve suppose to be on the last tough but then needed for a fight and taken off TUF?
"He broke tim sylvia’s arm…...So what?" – Brock Lesnar
perhaps its most rotund?
I don’t think there’s any perhaps about it . . .
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