Struve (photo via UFC.com)

By FCF Staff

UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve has had his promising MMA career put on temporary hold, as according to a statement his management team has released, the 25 year-old has been diagnosed with a heart condition. As a result, the 7’0 tall fighter has begun medical treatments for the condition with the hope that he can resume fighting in the future.

Here is part of what the statement had to say about Struve, which was released by his manager, Lex McMahon.

“Stefan Struve has recently been diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve and an enlarged heart and was hospitalized for a week to undergo testing to determine the best course of treatment. The doctors found that Stefan has a bicuspid aortic valve, wich means that his aortic valve only has two leaflets, instead of three.
The aortic valve regulates blood flow from the heart into the aorta, the major blood vessel that brings blood to the body. In combination with the enlarged heart it causes his heart to only pump 70 percent of the blood into the aorta and then the rest of his body, and the remaining 30 percent ends up back in the heart chamber. After consulting experts in both Holland and the United States, it was decided to treat the condition with medication for the next two months and asses the effectiveness of that treatment protocol. After those 2 months, the doctors will have an answer on what the best treatment options are.

At the direction of his doctors, Stefan has now been released from the hospital and has resumed light cardiovascular exercise. Stefan fully appreciates the significance of the condition he has been diagnosed with, however, he is optimistic about the eventual outcome and fully plans on living a long, healthy, active, happy life and eventually returning to competition in the octagon for his quest to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.”

Struve (25-6) hasn’t competed since March, when he was stopped by Mark Hunt and also incurred a broken jaw. The defeat ended the Dutch heavyweight’s four fight win streak, which included wins over Pat Barry, Stipe Miocic, Lavar Johnson and Dave Herman.