UFC Heavyweight Stefan Struve blogs for MMA Fighting about his sudden change in opponent from Mark Hunt to Lavar johnson, and what he thinks of both new and old match-ups. Struve will fight on the all Heavyweight card next Saturday at UFC 146.

Here Struve discusses the brief notice and opponent change:

“The news arrived at a very funny and awkward time actually. I was at my girlfriend’s place and we were looking for potential holidays after the fight. It was then that my manager sent me a text message telling me I needed to call him immediately because Mark Hunt was injured and out of the fight. At that moment I panicked, as I wasn’t sure whether I’d still be fighting or not. I didn’t want my whole training camp to go to waste. Luckily, I spoke with my manager and he told me Lavar had already been put in place as the stand-in opponent – I was delighted. It’s a really cool fight.”

Struve talks Lavar’s size and skills:

“As it turned out, Lavar Johnson is every bit as exciting for me as Hunt was. Credit to him for stepping up to the plate. All in all, Lavar is a big, strong guy who likes to stand and punch, and he’s also far easier to take down than Hunt. I truly believe Mark has better takedown defense than Lavar, and that makes it a fun fight for me.”

Struve still hopes to one day face off with Mark Hunt:

“Of course, it goes without saying, it would have been an absolute honor to fight Mark Hunt. I’ve been watching Mark’s fights for years and was genuinely excited at the prospect of testing my skills against him. I hope he gets well soon and doesn’t suffer too much as a result of the injury. It would be great to fight him at some point in the future and pick up where we left off. He’s great for the sport and, so long as he can continue performing the way he’s done recently, that man’s going in the right direction.”

comments