B/R Road Report: Nelson, Struve Got the Look for UFC Fight Night 21

On the pure visuals alone, Roy Nelson vs. Stefan Struve looks more like a special attraction at a county fair than a UFC heavyweight contest.

But make no mistake that Wednesday's co-main event at UFC Fight Night 21 is an important one for both guys as they attempt to see where they stand in an ever-deepening division, arguably the hottest one in the UFC today.

A slimmed down Nelson (still 263 pounds) will carry his trademark mid-section girth into the contest, one that Struve feels Nelson will try to get to the ground like he did in previous fights with Kimbo Slice and James McSweeney on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

However, he is not concerned in the least.

"Those guys don’t have a ground game. I don’t see him doing that with me. I got a ground game. That’s for sure," the confident Struve said.

The 22-year-old Struve is coming off a razor-thin majority decision over Paul Buentello at UFC 107 in December, his third straight victory in the Octagon.

After debuting with a first round loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 95 in February 2009, Struve feels he's finally got into a groove in the world's largest MMA organization.

"I was too nervous (in the dos Santos fight). That wasn’t me," he explained. "It was just the nerves. It’s your first (UFC) fight and it’s all new. Now it feels like home and this is just another fight."

Despite this being his first non-TUF related UFC contest, the 33-year-old Nelson is also treating this as just another fight—one he considers his fifth overall in the UFC which is on par with Struve.

"He’s one of the guys you don’t want to fight as compared to everyone else as he’s going to be there every round," Nelson said. "These other guys, you can go out there and break them mentally and they just quit. He’s the guy that’s going to be there for all three rounds. If it was a championship fight, he’d be there for all five."

While Struve has only gone the distance once, the 6'11" Dutchman could prove difficult if the fight does go to the floor. With 14 of his 19 wins coming via submission, Nelson understands the challenge ahead.

"His height plays a big role stand-up wise. He's got a 10 or 11-inch reach advantage over me so that's something I have to get past," Nelson said. "With his ground game, his guard is so wide now that with the long legs, you have to get past that."

Nelson added that long arms and legs usually assist in leverage for a fighter like Struve, so there isn't necessarily an advantage for Nelson if he looks for a submission—something he hasn't done since July 2006.

The outcome could present some interesting opportunities for either man in a division that is getting better with each passing event. Even at a young age, Struve (19-3) will be competing for the 23rd time in pro MMA, but isn't in any rush to put himself among the division's elite with a win.

"This is a honor for me to be in the co-main event. That's huge," Struve said. "I'm fine with everything and will take any fight. I’m in no rush, so give me some years and we'll see."

Nelson (14-4) may have less fights, but the Las Vegas, NV, native thinks he has something to combat the difference.

"He has a lot more fights and he has more fight experience. But I have a lot more life experience. I know it’s going to be a war…Struve comes to comes bring it every time."

Notes

Despite this being the first UFC live event in the city since September 1994, there was no coverage or even an ad in the city's largest newspaper Wednesday. The only piece I've seen was a column in Tuesday's paper you can find here .

Disappointing? Slightly. I will be interested in seeing the media contingent at the venue tonight.

Speaking of Wednesday, we will have live cageside coverage of UFC Fight 21 here on B/R starting at roughly 5 pm EST with the prelims all through the main event. I will also be at the post-event press conference as well.

Tuesday: UFC Fight Night 21 Weigh-Ins and Notes
Tuesday:  Florian, Gomi look for redemption
Monday: Observations from UFC Media Day

Josh Nason is a freelance MMA writer who has contributed to Bleacher Report, FIGHT! Magazine, MMA Madness.com, and others. He is in Charlotte, NC, all week for UFC Fight Night 21 and will be posting new stories every day leading up to the event.

Follow him on Twitter: @joshnason.