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The Fight: Lavar Johnson vs Stefan Struve
About This Fight:
This fight was scheduled to be Struve vs Mark Hunt but on May 17th Hunt officially withdrew due to injury. With this being an all heavyweight card and all the drama and reshuffling this card has already seen (Overeem failing drug test) the UFC was in a panic to get an opponent for Struve. After seeing what Johnson did to a very tough guy in Barry and the minimal damage he took Johnson seemed a logical choice.
Laver "Big" Johnson
Lavar Johnson (17-5 overall 2-0 UFC) is coming off a huge Knockout of the Night victory over fan favorite Pat "HD" Barry at UFC on Fox: Diaz vs Miller which was only three weeks ago! Johnson is the definition of the word "powerhouse" as he has bust on the UFC scene and in both of his fights he has been given the Knockout of the Night award! He was the first man to ever knock out UFC veteran Joey Beltran. He is a former War Gods Heavyweight Champion and came within a knee injury away from winning the WEC Championship. He has finished each of his 17 pro fights (15 KO's and 2 submissions) and will be looking to add to that total Saturday. A win over a well known fighter such as Struve and doing it on short notice could catapult Johnson's career and put him in with the big fish of the division.
Johnson ends the Barry Fight (UFC.com)
This video is property of the UFC and UFC.com. Uploaded by 586grimmjo2 (youtube user)
Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve
Stefan Struve (23-5 overall 7-3UFC) is a very unique heavyweight due to his staggering height (6ft 11.5in) which gives him a reach advantage in any fight. He possesses a 3.5inch reach advantage in this fight. Struve came into the UFC at UFC 95 and was the first person to taste the power of now champ Junior Dos Santos. Since then he has beaten guys like Pat Barry, Paul Buentello and most recently Dave Herman. Struve is more of a well rounded fighter than Johnson and has a very slick BJJ game (purple belt). He has recorded 6 knockouts and 15 submissions in his 23 wins. He has 2 Submission of the Night awards as well as 1 Knockout of the Night award. He is 4-0 as a professional kickboxer and his kicks could be his key to victory over the power of Johnson. If Johnson isn't careful or makes a mistake Struve could pull out a win and be seen as more than just a "gatekeeper" of the heavyweight division.
UFC, ufc.com and Morrow Production (youtube user)
How this fight will go:
I expect a very short "feeling out process" for this fight as Johnson doesn't know how to go backward. After watching him fight a extremely dangerous kick-boxer in Barry, I see a man who goes for the kill from the moment they touch gloves. I look for Johnson to keep inside of the kicks and land some huge bombs and test the chin of Struve (which is suspect as he has been knocked out 4 times). If Struve can't keep Johnson at bay I see this ending the same way his fight with Travis Browne went (hint..it wasn't good for Stefan). I do see Struve trying to take this fight to the ground and expose the weak ground game of Johnson who was almost submitted via an americana by Barry.
Prediction: Johnson via KO (Knockout of the Night award winner).
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