Controversial. That’s the word which best sums up Stefan Struve’s return to MMA competition.

The Dutch heavyweight returned to action Saturday at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C., where he faced fellow veteran Ben Rothwell. Struve (29-12 MMA, 13-10 UFC) lost the bout via technical knockout in the third round, but suffered two illegal shots to the groin in the process – one in Round 1 and the other towards the end of the second. The second groin shot ended up in a point deduction for Rothwell.

“Yeah, it hurt,” Struve told MMA Junkie. “It took my breathing away and I had to relax my abdomen and stuff. It took a while, man. It definitely hurt. Things were sensitive after that. And after the second one, my abdomen really hurt like it was going back into my kidneys, and yeah, it was no fun.”

But the low blows, in and of themselves, weren’t the most controversial part of the fight. After the second illegal hit in round two, the real controversy started.

Referee Dan Miragliotta halted the action after Struve went down in pain for a second time and followed up by telling Struve he was likely up on the scorecards. Miragliotta also told Struve that if he chose not to continue fighting, the bout would be declared a no-contest.

Many took issue with Miragliotta’s comments, stating a referee is not in the cage to advise fighters, much less to tell a fighter how they’re doing on the scorecards, as it could’ve potentially changed the outcome in Struve’s fight and decision to carry on.

Struve couldn’t disagree more with that perspective.

“I think he was just trying to help me by giving me the information that he had on what was going to happen if I stopped,” Struve explained. “I don’t think it would’ve changed anything for what I did. He’s a good dude, man. Dan is a really good dude; I like him a lot. He’s reffed a lot of my fights, he’s a good guy and I really think he only tried to help.

“Like there is no win for him if I continue or stop the fight, there’s nothing that benefits him. He’s just trying to do his job. He knows me for a long, long time, for over 10 years. So people need to get off his back and let him be. Refereeing in MMA is so hard, you need to make split-second decisions. And these kinds of things, like how many times do these things happen? Like how do you deal under pressure with a fighter who was just fouled two times? It’s so tough.”

Struve believes the fans’ feelings towards Miragliotta’s call might have been different if he pulled through the pain of the groin shots and won the fight.

“They would’ve praised him, but that’s life, that’s what people like to do – they like to talk (expletive),” Struve said. “It doesn’t matter what you do, you can never do right to everybody. So no, man, I thank him, no animosity. We always have a good laugh when we see each other and it is what it is, you can’t change anything about it.

“I think everyone involved tried to continue the fight with the best intent. It’s just really unfortunate for me the way it played out.”

Struve said he did feel better after the five minutes of recovery time he was given, but was not 100 percent, both physically and mentally. The main reason he continued fighting was because of what was on the line.

“I did feel better after I got my breathing going, but like, I knew it was going to be a no contest if I stopped and no contest means no win bonus,” Struve said. “So it’s a lot of money I’m leaving out. I fight for that win bonus. A no contest doesn’t pay the bills, you know. When I’m in that cage, it’s not like I get a chance next week to get a win bonus, so yeah, got that body feeling good after some rest, but mentally it (expletive) with me too –  especially after the second time like, ‘Dude, really? You just kicked me in the nuts again after that first shot.’”

“The first shot you can really hear on the T. and the second one it was already sensitive around there so it messes with me mentally. I don’t hold any hate or animosity towards Ben. I don’t think he threw them on purpose. I don’t think he landed them where he wanted them to land, but at the same time, it changes the fight even if there is no intent.

“You’re responsible for everything you throw, so even if there is no intent, the ruled needs to protect the other fighter and that’s where I got screwed in my opinion, especially when you’re cruising on your way to victory. If I were to have a round like the first and the second, that would’ve been a perfect, smooth victory for me. But now, because something out of my control, it gets taken away from me and that’s a really bitter pill to swallow.”

Despite the controversial nature of his fight, Struve has no interest in a rematch with Rothwell. And although the outcome didn’t favor him in the end, he does take some positives with him from his comeback to MMA competition.

“I’m happy with what I showed,” Struve said. “When you watch the fight and you cut out all the negative things that happened, I looked really good and I won that fight. But at the same time you don’t, and those thing are out of my control. I looked really good out there, I did everything I trained and everything I wanted to do and show. Pretty much everything I threw: low kicks, front kicks, head kicks, side kicks, my jab was pumping, I hit him with good upper cuts, and even a perfect counter hook when he stepped in and I stepped out to the left. Everything was flowing, everything was so good.

“Also, before the finish he had a good block that hurt my leg, so props to him for that one. But man it’s so tough because I look really good. But yeah, at the same time there’s this feeling that it wasn’t good enough even though it was.”