UFC 204 winner Stefan Struve says rematch with champ Stipe Miocic might be one 'big win' away

MANCHESTER, England – Stefan Struve may have walked away with a submission win on Saturday. But, as far as he’s concerned, he did nothing more than he was supposed to.

After catching Daniel Omielanczuk (19-6-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) with a D’arce choke in the second round of their UFC 204 main-card heavyweight scrap, a candid Struve (28-8 MMA, 12-6 UFC) said his body was probably his biggest adversary at UFC 204.

“I don’t know what that was, but we’ll figure it out,” Struve said. “My movement wasn’t perfect. My striking defense wasn’t perfect because of that. And because of that, my posture defense wasn’t good. But I said before the fight, I’m at a different level than this guy, and even when I’m not at my best day, I should finish him – and I did.”

While still unsure as to what exactly was in the root of his struggles, Struve said the weight cut and the late night fight (around 3:30 a.m. local time) might have contributed to his pay-per-view performance at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

“I got warm, I was sweating real fast, but then I felt my body just filling up,” Struve said. “And I’d never had that. This is the biggest weight cut that I’ve done. This is the weirdest time I ever fought at. So we’ll look at it, we’ll dissect it, and we’ll perfect it so it won’t happen next time.

“Your body’s still feeling like it’s the dead of the night. I think I need to be a little smarter with the weight cut, the way I do it. Maybe next time I’ll bring someone out to help me with that. We’ll just look at it. It wasn’t perfect, but I got it done.”

Not only did the “Skycraper” get it done, he did so with his first submission victory since 2012. It was also Struve’s 10th time skipping the judges’ scorecards for a UFC win – including the 2012 TKO of Stipe Miocic (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) that made him the first (and still only) man to finish the now-current champ.

The accomplishment is not lost on Struve, who, though realistic about his standings, already has an eye on the high-stakes rematch.

“I know a certain someone who’s ranked No.1 in the world right now with a belt,” Struve said when asked about any opponents he’d like to revisit. “I think (Miocic) would like to have that rematch too, but I need a big win to get that. I would love that fight, of course, but I need another win.”

As to how he’ll get there, exactly, Struve can’t tell for sure right now. But he’s ready to make the climb.

“I don’t really care about those rankings,” Struve said. “But we’ll see. I’m definitely going up. I want a higher-ranked guy than I just fought. And I want to work my way up, back up, to where I belong. We’ll see what the UFC has got in store for us.”

Fore more on Struve’s thoughts about his own performance and his rematch plans, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage UFC 204, check out the UFC Events section of the site.