10 UFC Fighters Who Lost To Surprising Opponents

Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve, a legit 7' tall mountain of a man (and the tallest fighter in UFC history), was entering his 30th pro fight at 24-5 when he squared off with undefeated 9-0 prospect Stipe Miocic at UFC On Fuel TV, 29 September 2012. While Struve certainly had the experience and reach advantage, Miocic was riding a major-league hype train to the top. Unfortunately for Stipe, however, his hype train would come to a screeching halt at 3 minutes and 50 seconds into Round 2, when Struve would dispatch of him with a salvo of brutal uppercuts and hooks against the cage.

While this may not have been wholly surprising at the time, it certainly is now is because of how their careers panned out after the fact.

While Miocic's hype train did indeed make a brief stop here, he'd quickly ride it straight back to the top, winning 11 of his last 14 fights, capturing the UFC Heavyweight strap twice (and successfully defending it four times), and defeating huge names such as Daniel Cormier, Fabricio Werdum, and Francis Ngannou. Many regard Miocic as the greatest Heavyweight to ever set foot in the octagon.

Struve, meanwhile, went on a steep decline.

He would fight 12 more times following the Miocic fight, registering a depressing 4-8 record along the way. After battling a multitude of health problems throughout his career, Struve finally decided to hang up the gloves earlier this year. While he did defeat other big names such as Bigfoot Silva and Minotauro Nogueira, his win over Miocic remains not only his most impressive, but his most surprising by far.