S. Struve (left) receives an illegal kick from B. Rothwell. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @stefan_struve
The Dutch Stefan struve lived an unhappy night last Saturday (7), in UFC Washington, which marked his return to the octagon. The athlete, who was the victim of two illegal low kicks, ended up defeated by knockout in a duel against Ben Rothwell and blamed the attacks for taking his focus off the fight and resulting in the setback. The athlete spoke about the defeat on his official Twitter account this Monday morning (9).
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“I’m not complaining about the knockout. I'm frustrated that two illegal (unintentional) kicks took my focus away from a fight in which I was clearly controlling and winning. Plus, I missed out on the big win bonus,” wrote the athlete.
The fight, which was expected to be decided in three rounds, was stopped twice, following illegal low blows delivered by Rothwell. The second time the fight was paused, Stefan made use of almost five minutes available for recovery.
After stating that he was ready to return to the fight, Ben, who was penalized one point, attacked his opponent and managed to take advantage of the Dutchman's distraction. After pressing his opponent against the cage, throwing a series of punches, the North American achieved a technical knockout with three seconds remaining in the second round.
In response to a follower, Struve stated that he was upset with the referee's attitude in not determining his victory by disqualifying Ben. A triumph would add the second consecutive victory to the athlete's record, who has not played since February this year, when he finished Marcos Foot in one of the UFC Prague fights.
“I agree (that there should be disqualification). When you make illegal scams, you must be held accountable. Ben knows I don't blame him. I told him that. I believe he had no intention of making those attacks and hitting where he did. It doesn't change anything. The kicks changed the course of the fight”, concluded the Dutchman.
I don't complain about the stoppage. I'm frustrated that 2 (unintentional) illegal blows take away my focus in a fight that I was clearly controlling and winning, and because of that I missed out on a big win bonus. https://t.co/iJMkl56uwB
— Stefan struve (@StefanStruve) December 9, 2019
I agree, whatever you throw you are responsible for. Ben knows I don't blame him because I told him, I believe he had no intention of landing them where they landed. Doesn't change anything about the result of those kicks tho, they still changed the entire course of the fight https://t.co/ajZQ88D24K
— Stefan struve (@StefanStruve) December 9, 2019
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