Major Changes Made For UFC 104
by Robert Sargent
Anxious to get UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar back inside the Octagon before the end of 2009, the UFC has made significant changes to a pair of prominent heavyweight fights at UFC 104. "Big" Ben Rothwell will now face Cain Velasquez.
Rothwell's original opponent, the undefeated Chase Gormley, will now take on Dutch star Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve in a fight on the event's undercard.
Rothwell (30-6-0) now has an immediate opportunity to put himself in line for a future title shot in the UFC. A victory over Velasquez, who was previously set to face Shane Carwin in a #1-contender's bout, would vault Rothwell back into the division's top 10 fighters and leave no doubt that he is a legit threat to anyone.
For Velasquez (6-0-0), the opponent change may actually benefit him in some ways. Rothwell possesses similar power to Velasquez's original opponent, Carwin, and has a much more refined submission game. However, Rothwell lacks the wrestling pedigree of Carwin and will not be able to engage in a wrestling and takedown battle with Velasquez.
Rothwell needs to keep the fight on the feet, where he could very easily pick up a huge knockout and potentially even become the #1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in the process. At worst, a win over Velasquez would set Rothwell up to face the winner of the UFC 102 bout between Randy "The Natural" Couture and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira.
Velasquez, as in his fight with Cheick Kongo, needs to take the fight with Rothwell to the ground and keep it there. Trading strikes with Rothwell is a recipe for disaster, unless your name is Andrei Arlovski, and Velasquez does not possess the punching power needed to finish Rothwell on the feet.
The fight should be an excellent one either way.
Also on the card, Chase Gormley (6-0-0) will look to remain unbeaten when he faces new opponent Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve (17-3-0), who has never been to a decision in 20 career fights.
Gormley is a standout wrestler who has finished four of his six opponents and most recently defeated Eric "Big E" Pele at MFC 16: "Anger Management" last May. However, he has not fought since then and ring rust could prove to be a factor.
Struve was defeated by Junior "Cigano" dos Santos in his UFC debut, but came back strong at the aptly titled UFC 99: "The Comeback." Despite being cut extremely badly in the first round and losing a ridiculous amount of blood - the fight should have been stopped on more than one occasion - Struve persevered and submitted Denis Stojnic in the second round.
This fight is a very interesting one because Gormley is used to taking his opponents to the ground and finishing them there. However, the 6'11" Struve has made a career out of submitting foes on the mat and has won 13 times by submission. If Gormley makes a single mistake, Struve will look to immediately make him pay.
Despite the changes, UFC 104 is still an extremely solid card and is headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
