Struve, who at 6-foot-11 is the tallest fighter in the UFC, leveled Buentello with an uppercut early in the first round and then dominated him on the ground throughout, controlling Buentello on the ground and trying -- but failing -- to sink in a rear-naked choke. Buentello did next to nothing throughout the first, but he did survive what was a fairly slow and boring round.
In the second Buentello did a nice job of bouncing back, using his superior punching power to knock Struve down and hurt him standing up. The second was a much more entertaining round, as they stood and traded punches most of the way, and it was a round that played to Buentello's strengths.
In the third Struve unleashed some early leg kicks and began to use his reach advantage more effectively, and Buentello wasn't able to connect any of the hard punches he was going for. Two judges gave the fight to Struve by a score of 29-28, while another scored it a draw. Many fans booed the decision.
"I don't feel like a winner right now," Struve said afterward of the first decision of his career. "It was far from my best. It was more of a draw."
Struve may not be happy with it, but it's still a win that improves his record to 19-3. Buentello falls to 27-11.
Stefan Struve beat Paul Buentello by majority decision in a hard-fought heavyweight battle at UFC 107 Saturday night in Memphis.