UFC 146: Stefan Struve Blogs About Growing Up As A Mark Hunt Fan

UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve is blogging on MMA Fighting leading up to his UFC 146 tilt with Mark Hunt, and the first in the series gives some pretty interesting insight into the big man. This blog basically talks about how he got into fighting, who his inspirations were, and tells an amusing story about his job prior to MMA. He starts off by talking about feeling just like the other UFC heavyweights despite his 6'11 frame, and the other sports he tried before getting into the gym. Then he goes onto discuss a hero of his, who just happens to be the main he'll be standing across the cage from in nine days - Mark Hunt:

My next opponent, Mark Hunt, was actually one of the guys I watched a lot of during my teenage years. He has competed in both K-1 and Pride, and was always somebody who loved to stand and trade kicks and punches. His style of fighting was a personal favorite of mine and, to be honest, I was a big fan of Mark for many years.

He closes it out with a story about how he's never really been a fighter outside the cage, and how he's happy he doesn't have to be a bouncer anymore:

Despite my early love of punching, I've never been the type of guy to get involved in fights away from the gym. That's just not my thing. Even as a kid, I was never the sort to scrap in the playground. Also, I towered over a lot of kids my age, so they would have been foolish to pick a fight with me.

Still, when I was 18, I started working as a bouncer to make some money and help out my parents, and that was a real eye opener for me, as many fights would break out on a nightly basis. You always hoped they wouldn't – and did your best to prevent them – but alcohol and testosterone is never a good mix. Working the door consisted of lots of late nights and fist fights, though I tried to stop the fights before they got out of hand. Looking back, I'm now happy I get paid to fight and can get to bed at a reasonable time.

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