Stefan Struve explains his decision to return to fight after announcing his retirement: 'I needed to rest'

S. Struve in victory for the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook @StefanStruve

The 'Dutch Giant', Stefan struve is back in MMA after announcing his retirement in February this year. The athlete returns to the Octagon to face heavyweight (up to 120,2kg), Ben Rothwell, in the UFC Washington, on December 7th. In a recent interview with 'MMA Fighting' the athlete commented on the expectations and reasons that made him return to mixed martial arts.

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“I just needed some time to relax and get away from the fights. I had a tough streak with three defeats, and before that, I had shoulder surgery, two hand surgeries and fought several times with injuries, like broken ribs”, declared the athlete.

The Dutchman also explained that one of the biggest frustrations was the fact that he put himself in a condition of heavy training, but was unable to achieve favorable results in his disputes. For him, the defeats motivated him to make the decision to leave at the beginning of the year.

“Looking back, I think I was exhausted by all those years of working hard and not getting the results. I enjoyed my free time, I worked on my house and spent a lot of time with my family, sleeping, relaxing and just doing what I wanted. And after a while, I was getting irritated by it,” said Stefan.

One of the reasons for the fighter to return to the UFC was the fact that he returned to training, but without the commitment of having fights scheduled. The gym environment ended up favoring the athlete’s return.

“I started training again without the aim of fighting. I always liked training, but I really missed the feeling that makes me go further in training. I would wake up at night thinking about fighting again, and that's when I would ask myself, 'Are you sure you really want to walk away from this?' I'm glad I made the decision. I feel really good, I'm very relaxed and my mind is clear. This is the most important thing in the fight”, concluded the 'giant'.

At 31 years old, Struve has already had 40 official fights. In total, the athlete has 29 victories and 11 setbacks. Among the rivals beaten by the Dutchman are Brazilians Antônio and Marcos 'Pezão' and Rodrigo Minotauro.

Rothwell, Stefan's opponent in December, is coming off a recent loss to the former UFC champion, Andrei Arlovski and is not going through a good time within the company. At 37 years old, he comes from three consecutive negative results.