UFC 104 Preview: Newcomer Chase Gormley Draws Stefan Struve in Debut

After two weeks of catching miniscule regional and international promotional action with the peak coming on Saturday by way of Alistair "Mega-reem Overlord" Overeem's Hulk Smash of Tony Sylvester, I think it's safe to say that we're all ready for a weekend of respectable and relevant fighting.

UFC 104 will take place on Saturday evening from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA with a main event Light Heavyweight Title bout between Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The event will also feature heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell, a pair of lightweight divisional match-ups, and a welterweight clash between Anthony Johnson and Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Before we get to our main card previews, we'll take a closer look at the UFC 104 undercard bouts, two of which will be televised on SpikeTV before the pay-per-view portion of the card.

The first bout on the card at UFC 104 will feature current UFC heavyweight fighter Stefan Struve (17-3) taking on newcomer Chase Gormley (6-0) in what looks to be a grappler vs. wrestler match-up. Struve is currently 1-1 in the promotion with a devastating loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 95 while pulling off a miraculous comeback victory at UFC 99 against Denis Stojnic. Gormley is currently undefeated with his most significant win coming against super heavyweight Eric Pele at MFC 16. Gormley was supposed to battle fellow UFC signee Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Trilogy, but the event was cancelled. The fight was moved to the UFC, but Rothwell was eventually moved up into a bout with Cain Velasquez while Gormley drew Struve.

Struve is probably best known within the confines of the casual fanbase for his lackluster performance at UFC 95 in which he succumbed to Junior Dos Santos' powerful punching in only 0:54 seconds. It was a rude introduction to the challenges that the UFC's heavyweight division has to offer, but the hype surrounding Struve as he entered the shark tank was high. After all, the lengthy 6'11" Struve had amassed 16 wins coming into his debut with 12 of those wins coming by way of submission, and he did manage to defeat former UFC fighter Mario Neto and Colin Robinson. Most fans believed that extensive reach would cause some substantial dangers to Dos Santos, but Santos proved that his punching was just too much for the 21-year-old.

Struve's second performance proved to be another disappointing effort, although a victorious celebration by the end of the bout. After being cut badly during the fight, Struve was miraculously allowed to continue, and with a sense of urgency -- locked Stojnic into a rear naked choke to win the bout while being the centerpiece to a bloody mess. Struve proved that his grappling abilities could pull off some impressive techniques, but he has yet to prove that he can avoid the thrashing from power punchers.

Unfortunately for Struve, he'll need to worry about the striking portion of this match-up much like his past bouts. Gormley, a former NAIA All-American wrestler for Lindenwood University, will bring a competitive striking game coupled with solid takedowns and ground and pound. Gormley trains out of Black House in California, and the word on the street has been that Gormley has given both Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Junior Dos Santos battles in sparring sessions in terms of his striking ability. He used to fight at Super Heavyweight, so his size could be a real drag for Struve to deal with. At only 6'3" however, he'll have problems dealing with Struve's length.

The x-factor in this match-up, for me, is the fact that Gormley is actively training with some of the best BJJ practicioners in the world along with improving his striking skills with top fighters. He should be able to avoid the submission game againt Struve with the help of Black House, and his striking should give him an edge on the feet. Unless Struve reverts to his earlier days as a kickboxer by using leg kicks to immobilize Gormley, Gormley should punch for power standing and eventually pound out Struve. If Stojnic was able to catch Struve with the hammer, I'm not overly inclined to believe Gormley can't either.