After getting dominated in the first-round, Stefan Struve was able to submit Marcos Rogerio de Lima to complete an improbable come-from-behind victory at UFC Prague.
Stefan Struve is the tallest fighter on the UFC roster, standing at seven-feet tall. That attribute hasn’t led to Octagon success, as “Skyscraper” is 12-9 in the UFC. Struve does hold notable victories over Stipe Miocic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Antonio Silva. However, he is winless in his last three appearances, falling to Alexander Volkov (in a Fight of the Night), Andrei Arlovski, and Marcin Tybura.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima competed as a heavyweight in TUF Brazil 3 in 2014, falling to Antonio Carlos Junior in the semi-finals. After winning in his UFC debut at heavyweight, de Lima moved to 205-pounds where he went 3-3 and missed weight in his final two fights by over three pounds each time. This prompted a return to heavyweight, where he defeated Adam Wieczorek in November.
Not even 10 seconds into the bout, Marcos Rogerio de Lima dropped Struve with the punch Struve struggles with most, the overhand right. De Lima pounced on top, but the long limbs of Struve prevented de Lima from going for the finish. De Lima passed guard temporarily, but he was still unable to truly open up. A few big right hands got through, but not enough to put Struve away. With 90 seconds left in the round, Struve had yet to land a strike. The Brazilian smoothly passed to side control, then mount with 30 seconds left in the round, staying there to ride out a dominant first stanza.
De Lima wasting NO time! #UFCPrague pic.twitter.com/jHQ0Kxn92R
— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2019
De Lima swarmed Struve again to start the second round, but ended up in a clinch against the cage instead of in top position. Struve tripped de Lima and passed into half guard, where de Lima locked him into position. Struve nearly passed into mount, but half guard was retained by de Lima. In response, Struve utilized an arm-triangle to pass to mount and locked in the submission to complete an excellent comeback victory.
Another submission victory!@StefanStruve uses those long limbs to submit De Lima in round 2! #UFCPrague pic.twitter.com/qshmGkWcyU
— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2019
In the post-fight interview, Stefan Struve stated he was completely unaware of the beginning of the fight, and added that he was unsure if this was his last fight.
Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima by Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) in Round 2 (2:21)
