Issue 093
October 2012
Looking down on the UFC heavyweight division is nothing new to Stefan Struve, but it’s doing it from the top of the rankings that drives the dangerous Dutchman
NEED TO KNOW
NAME: Stefan Struve
AGE: 24
STARTED: 2005
TEAM: Team Schreiber
DIVISION: Heavyweight
STYLE: Striking, BJJ
RECORD: 24-5
Although only 24 years of age, Stefan Struve is already big wherever he goes. He is, after all, six-foot-eleven and known endearingly as ‘Skyscraper’. But he’s potentially big in so many other ways, too. A Dutchman with a penchant for taking opponents down and submitting them, Struve is popular with fans, marketable as a BFG attraction and also a fighting anomaly. The ungainly giant shouldn’t work, yet does, and to the tune of 24 professional mixed martial arts wins.
“When I was 11 or 12 years old, I really started to shoot up above my classmates,” he recalls in an exclusive interview with Fighters Only. “I got used to being the big kid in the playground, and that hasn’t really changed since joining the UFC. I’m now the tallest guy on the UFC roster and, in many ways, it’s just like being back at school.
“It’s a strange feeling, though, because I don’t believe I’m any different to the five-foot-ten heavyweights, like Mark Hunt or Pat Barry. I just see myself as being the same as them, only I’m able to see over large crowds of people, while they might struggle.”
Born in Beverwijk, Netherlands, Struve capitalized on his height in a variety of ways through childhood. In addition to peering over mere mortals in large crowds, he also tried his hand at numerous sports, most notably excelling as a central defender on the soccer field. “I never played basketball – I tried it once and was useless – but I did play soccer,” Struve admits. “I figured back then I’d either make it as a striker, winning balls in the air and getting on the end of crosses, or as a dominant central defender, winning balls in the air and stopping crosses. I didn’t exactly have the build to be a quick and agile winger.”
Football fizzled out around the age of 14 and Struve would gradually start to kick with more force towards human flesh, rather than a leather ball. He’d begun to follow kickboxing events at 10 years old and, aided by his brother’s love of Pride tournaments, would later come to discover the burgeoning sport of mixed martial arts. Soon, his long legs, the envy of many, geared up for a fresh challenge.
“I couldn’t believe there was something out there that encouraged kicking and punching in addition to wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” says Struve. “The whole concept was fascinating. My brother was also a big inspiration during this time. He was already training MMA, and had even had a couple of fights. So, when I turned 14, he decided to take me to the gym and instantly I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Some men wait their entire lives to experience such a feeling of contentment, yet Struve found it while barely a teenager. No wonder the Dutchman now, many years later, cuts such a happy-go-lucky figure. Baby-faced though he may be, no man loves scrapping quite like Struve. “On my first day of training we were doing a lot of bag and pad work, and I remember going to school the next day unable to write with a pen because my hand was still shaking from impact,” he says.
“The teachers couldn’t understand why I was so behind on my work, but I knew it was because I’d been hitting the heavy bags so hard. Despite my early love of punching, I’ve never been the type of guy to get involved in fights away from the gym, though. That’s just not my thing. Even as a kid, I was never the sort to scrap in the playground. Also, I towered over a lot of kids my age, so they would have been foolish to pick a fight with me.”
Besides, there was no need for Struve to get his kicks from the playground. He won his first amateur mixed martial arts contest at just 16, made his professional debut at 17 and, by 18, was also working the doors as a nightclub bouncer.
“That was a real eye opener for me, as many fights would break out while I was at the club,” he admits. “You always hoped they wouldn’t – and did your best to prevent them – but alcohol and testosterone is never a good mix. Working the door consisted of lots of late nights and fist fights, though I tried to stop the fights before they got out of hand.”
In the tradition of many Dutch fighters, Struve started out with every intention of settling disputes – inside the ring – by knockout, with the help of fists or feet. He grew up admiring K-1 kickboxers and was, subsequently, at one with the concept of striking. However, as interest grew, Struve learned other methods with which to finish fights and would come to realize that his legs, essentially stilts, could also be just as effective in locking up submissions as they were cracking craniums.
“My first couple of fights were mainly fought on my feet, and I’d win them via head kicks or knees in the clinch,” says Struve. “It was then that opponents started taking me down and forced me to work on my ground game. From that point on, I was all about the ground game. I really saw it as a challenge and something I could get good at. I then started winning a lot of fights by submission.
“I was fearless on the way up. My aim was to go in there and kick ass. My first fight was at 185lb and I fought a guy who was 32 years of age, pretty much twice my age. I knocked him out with a head kick. After that, nobody at 185lb wanted to fight me, so that’s when I decided to make the move up the weight classes and eventually fight at heavyweight.”
To begin with, Struve was an empty costume of a heavyweight, a chalk outline, blessed with height, but boasting little in the way of strength or mass. He was just a teenager. However, as years went by, Struve learned to pack on more muscle and, naturally, bulked up as he edged ever closer to adulthood. By 20 years of age, he was 16-2 in his mixed martial arts career and on the cusp of joining the UFC.
“I turned 21 three days before my UFC debut against Junior Dos Santos, in front of 15,000 British fans,” Struve recalls. “Looking back, it was all a little overwhelming and the occasion definitely got to me. I froze during the fight and didn’t know what to do. Everything I’d learned over the course of my career was forgotten inside one minute.”
Struve lost to the Brazilian future world heavyweight champion, in just 54 seconds of the first round at London’s O2 Arena. Still, that 2009 setback proved to be a reality check for the Dutchman, who rebounded admirably with three straight wins, including a summer victory over Denis Stojnic in a UFC 99 brawl he claims best defines his fighting mantra. Cut open and bleeding like Janet Leigh in a shower, Struve rallied back from early drama to choke Stojnic out in the second round of a classic.
“That fight is a good example of what makes me happy in life,” Stefan says. “It is probably my favorite UFC moment to date and a moment that always puts a smile on my face.
“I knew my back was against the wall and knew I had to stop Denis before the final bell, which I did. The feeling of locking in that choke and winning the fight was unbelievable. Even better was knowing that the fans inside the arena, and everybody watching at home, would have had the time of their lives watching the fight. That matters to me just as much as getting the win.”
That is, in a nutshell, what makes Stefan Struve a man among men. A big man among men. Yes, his height ensures Struve will always stand out from the heavyweight crowd, but, in time, so too will his growing credentials and knack of thrilling fans time and time again.
The ducking Dutchman returns to the UK this September, when he’ll headline a UFC on Fuel TV event in Nottingham, England, against unbeaten prospect Stipe Miocic. Three-and-a-half years after making his UFC debut, the story will have come full circle.
“It’s an interesting fight, because I’m back where I started my UFC adventure and I’m now seen as the veteran in this fight,” laughs Struve, now 24-5. “Miocic is the guy with just nine fights to his name and, while I may be younger than him, I’m older in terms of MMA and UFC experience. So, yes, I plan on doing to Miocic what Dos Santos did to me in 2009. England needs to see the real me this time.”
