Heavyweight veterans Stefan Struve (29-11, 8 KOs, 18 SUBs) and Ben Rothwell (36-12, 27 KOs, 6 SUBs) will meet at UFC on ESPN 7 on Saturday, December 7 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The card airs live on ESPN starting 9pm ET.
In a heavyweight “how have these guys not fought yet” matchup, Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve will meet Ben Rothwell this Saturday. With 22 UFC appearances, Struve has fought pretty much everybody in the division, from current champ Stipe Miocic to former champ Junior Dos Santos all the way back to the days Roy “Big Country” Nelson was still cracking.
Still just 31 years old, the Dutchman has come close to being a top 5 fighter several times, but a glass chin has held him back every time he’s had the opportunity to truly cement that status. Now, it seems like the division could be passing him by, as he’s lost three of his past four. However, he was able to snag a submission win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima this past February.
Rothwell’s time as a fighter is likely drawing to an end: he’s not getting any younger at 38 years old and comes into the contest with three straight losses. A tepid decision loss to Andrei Arlovski this past July has knocked him to the lowest point of his UFC career, and it’s been a steep fall for a guy that compiled a four-fight winning streak with wins over Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.
Each man is fighting to stay relevant, even though they’re both recognizable figures in the division. The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu opened with Rothwell as a favorite, but let’s break down the best betting options in this matchup. Live UFC betting at the online sportsbook is available to make bets during the fight with real-time line updates.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Stefan Struve +115
Ben Rothwell -145
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +135 / -175
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Struve 3.01 / Rothwell 3.38
Striking accuracy: Struve 45% / Rothwell 42%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Struve 3.89 / Rothwell 6.36
Striking defense: Struve 47% / Rothwell 47%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Struve 0.61 / Rothwell 0.85
Takedown accuracy: Struve 53% / Rothwell 31%
Takedown defense: Struve 54% / Rothwell 69%
Submission average: Struve 1.83 / Rothwell 0.49
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Struve’s early UFC career was filled with promise: he was young, he was tall and he was a solid athlete. But his early hype was quickly killed when it became clear that the 7-footer was unable to utilize his height to any sort of striking advantage. On top of that, his career was irreparably altered when Mark Hunt literally shattered his jaw. Ever since that loss, Skyscraper has been marked as an easy knockout - one could simply walk through him to plant a missile onto his bear for a win.
Rothwell never had the same buzz, but he started from a higher floor. Coming in as an IFL champion, the Wisconsin native was thrown right into the deep end, facing prime versions of Andrei Arlovski and Cain Velasquez. It’s been understandably up and down for him, as he’s only managed a .500 UFC record, and his recent losing streak suggests that his time as a competitive big man might be done.
The best part of Rothwell’s game is his toughness - he is extraordinarily tough to put away and his best wins were improbable comebacks after getting battered. That already puts Struve at a disadvantage, as nearly anybody with punching power and grit naturally gives him trouble. But Rothwell’s steep physical decline also makes him vulnerable against the taller, more mobile Dutchman, who could stick and move his way to victory.
UFC Odds Pick: Fight goes to decision +135
This is a difficult decision to make for all the wrong reasons: neither fighter is reliable enough to bet on. The best value here is that the fight goes to decision. While that might seem counterintuitive, these guys just don’t have the finishing ability to suggest that one of them will put the other away.
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