Stefan Struve (right) wants a fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Stefan Struve does not hide his admiration of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The Dutch giant, coming off a loss to Mark Hunt at UFC Japan in March, sees the fight against “Big Nog” as a great chance for redemption.

The 25-year-old fighter said that when he was a kid, he liked to watch his idol beating opponents in Pride, and just thinking about those fights thrills him.

Earlier this week on GRACIEMAG.com’s “Choke MMA Show,” Struve talked about the respect he has for Minotauro, the strategy to beat the legend, in addition to what caused him to falter in his last fight.

“We’ve wanted this fight for a while now,” Struve said. “I think we’ve been talking about this fight for about two years. He’s one of my favorite fighters. I remember watching him when I was about 11 years old, so it’s unreal to be here now and be like, let’s get a fight with him. In my opinion, I didn’t really call him out … I think people need to see it in this perspective: If you want to fight in this sport, then you have to go out there and ask for it. Most of the time you’ll get it when the fans like it, when the UFC likes it and the other guy likes it. Big Nog said that he loved the fight and I told him to sign the contract. I’m waiting for him.”

When asked how he saw himself winning in a fight with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, the Dutchman admitted that he should stay away from Nogueira’s strengths.

“Don’t get caught in a grappling fight, stay away from his submissions,” he explained. “I think if I do that, then I have a really good shot at winning the fight.”

Struve recently went on vacation in Los Angeles. While there, the fighter took some time to train with former UFC heavyweight and current MMA coach Antoni Hardonk.

Hardonk, who like Struve, is also from Holland, discussed Struve’s fight with Big Nog and said the former Pride champion has flaws that can be taken advantage of.

“When I see a guy like Big Nog, I see an amazing fighter, but he uses a lot of boxing. That gives him some holes in his game,” Hardonk said. “So I think that the young fighters like Stefan … can really take advantage of that.”

And you, readers, what do you think? Will this heavyweight fight happen? Let us know in the comment section.

According to coach Everaldo Penco, Jiu-Jitsu spoke louder to Minotauro and the legend changed plans at the last second. Photo: UFC

Rodrigo Minotauro and Fabrício Werdum clashed last Saturday, June 8 in Fortaleza. In the main event of TUF Brazil 2 Finale, the coaches of the second installment of the reality show had a rematch seven years after their first encounter. Despite the undeniable charisma of the yellow team’s leader, Big Nog’s legend status got most of the crowd rooting for him.

Very well prepared, Nogueira made Werdum feel the strength of his hands right away, but Werdum took the fight to the ground and got the tapout with an armbar.

What happened to the green team’s leader? After all, Nogueira is also a massive BJJ talent and has several impressive submissions on his record. We talked to Everaldo Penco, his Jiu-Jitsu coach, who explained what went wrong in the Werdum bout:

“Because Minotauro has experience in applying the guillotine, he spotted the chance and attemped it,” said the coach. “But that was not our plan, which I think was pretty clear in round one, when Werdum took Minotauro down and he moved so as to get up. He almost knocked Fabrício out later. That was the goal: To keep the bout standing and seek the knockout.

“But in round two Rodrigo chose to go for the neck instead of defending from the takedown. I believe he felt frustrated from not sinking it in and, of course, kudos go to Werdum for defending very well, as the excellent black belt we all know him to be.

“We believe the error came in deviating from the strategy, as if Minotauro had grabbed the neck and gotten too excited. As a friend and coach, I think his attempt to finish the fight was commendable, since he always tries to do that as well as possible, be it a knockout or a submission.”

And how about you? What did you think of Minotauro vs. Werdum? What could the MMA legend have done differently to win this fight?

TUF Brazil 2 Finale

Gymnasium Paulo Sarasate, Fortaleza, Ceará

June 8, 2013

Main card

Fabrício Werdum def. Rodrigo Minotauro via armbar at 2:41 of round two

Léo Santos def. William Patolino via katagatame at 4:43 of round two

Thiago Silva def. Rafael Feijão via KO at 4:29 of round one

Erick Silva caught Jason High in a reverse triangle at 1:11 of round one

Daniel Sarafian subbed Eddie Mendez via katagatame at 2:20 of round one

Rony Jason def. Mike Wilkinson via triangle at 1:24 of round one

Undercard

Raphael Assuncao def. Vaughan Lee by submission (armbar) at 1:51 of round two

Felipe Arantes def. Godofredo Castro by TKO at 3:32o of round one

Ildemar Alcantara def. Leandro Silva by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Rodrigo Damm def. Mizuto Hirota by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Caio Magalhaes def. Karlos Vemola by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:49 of round two

Antonio Braga Neto def. Anthony Smith by submission (kneebar) at 1:52 of round one

Let’s all sit back and watch UFC heavyweight standout “Big Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira instruct on how to transition from half guard to finishing with an arm triangle. Awesome.