Stefan Struve wants to fight again, according to his manager Lex McMahon.
After being forced to withdraw from his fight against Matt Mitrione at UFC 175 due to a medical incident where he fainted after suffering a panic attack. He tweeted, “What happened had nothing to do with my heart. But everything that has happened left mental scare that I really underestimated.”
On Monday, Lex McMahon said the Heavyweight 7-footer will be back in action.
“I’ve subsequently spoken with Dana [White] several times and his question has been ‘Does Stefan want to fight?’”
“I’ve spent a fair amount of time with Stefan since the canceled bout, and his response was 100 percent, he definitely wants to fight.”
McMahon added that Struve fainting had nothing to do with his heart, but was nothing more than a panic attack.
“He had essentially what boiled down to a panic attack. It manifested itself physically, he had a fainting episode backstage before his fight occurred. I don’t think he took full account of the emotions to step into the Octagon. I think he had some lingering questions about where health was even though he’d been cleared by specialist. All those things came together in a perfect storm and unfortunately it created a tremendous amount of anxiety, and it caused him to faint. The doctors have reiterated there is nothing physically wrong with him, it was more the psychological response which created the physical manifestation of him fainting.”
McMahon acknowledged that Struve might have succumed to the pressure of fighting on one of UFC’s biggest shows of the year.
“I think people take for granted how incredibly, how much pressure is associated with that, from the media responsibilities, to realizing you’re being seen by millions of people, it was a lot for that young man.
Dana White has been very supportive of Struve and told him he can return to fighting whenever he feels he’s ready.
“My guess is you’ll see him sooner than later,” McMahon said.
