Heavyweight fighter Stefan Struve was recently given the all-clear to continue fighting after being diagnosed with a heart condition last year and has now been lined up to fight Matt Mitrione at UFC 175.
Struve last fought back in March of 2013, losing by third round TKO to Mark Hunt. In the summer doctor’s discovered that the ‘Skyscraper’ had both an enlarged heart and a leaking aortic valve which put a big question mark over his future in the sport.
However, after receiving medication and close medical supervision, Struve’s condition improved and towards the end of the year he was given permission to spar again, and last month he was finally given the thumbs up to fight again.
On the other hand, Mitrione fought just a couple of months ago, notching up a first KO victory over Shawn Jordan, getting him back into the win column after having lost three out of four fights prior to that.
Struve has had a problem with heavy-handed strikers in the past – all four of his UFC losses have come by way of either TKO or KO, so he’ll have to be wary of Mitrione and perhaps would be be wise to take this fight to the mat early and often where he should have a significant advantage.
UFC 175 is shaping up to be one of the promotion’s most stacked events of the year so far with Chris Weidman looking to defend his middleweight title for the first time against Lyoto Machida, while female bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey faces Alexis Davis and Chael Sonnen gets to settle his differences with Wanderlei Silva.
Struve Vs Mitrione is now expected to join them on the pay-per-view main card on July 5th in Las Vegas which will be the centerpiece of this year’s ‘International Fight Week’ festitivies in the city.
