(Big stakes for both fighters if this one happens.)
We’ll preface this story with the disclaimer that it’s simply a rumor at this point, but word on the street is that Todd Duffee may be the next opponent in line for Fedor Emelianenko.
According to a post on Fedor’s official website, “The Last Emperor” has been taking some time off to nurse a thigh injury and likely won’t fight until the summer against a “former UFC legend.” Sure it’s a stretch to say that Duffee is a UFC legend, but remember that these are those Crazy Russians talking and what else are they going to advertise him as, the ripped dude that got knocked out by that flabby Mike Russow guy?
What propagated the rumor, and it might be merely a coincidence, was that both Emelianenko and Duffee announced in the past 24-hours that they have “big news” to announce soon, presumably regarding their next respective fights. Considering that the once dominant Russian has been scraping the barrel of opponents since being dropped by Strikeforce following back-to-back losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume he’s fighting “The Duffman” next. Wins over an aging fighter like Jeff Monson and a future middleweight like Satoshi Ishii hardly convinced anyone that the old PRIDE-era Fedor is back. Not that a win over Duffee would silence his critics, but at least it would be a win over a fighter under 40 who is an actual heavyweight.
According to Duffee’s Wikipedia page, the fight is set for May, however M-1 mentioned last month that Fedor would likely fight next at a planned Monaco event in the summer, so take the news with a grain of salt.
Duffee hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Alistair Overeem at Dynamite!! 2010 back on December 31 of the same year. That fight was his first post-UFC outing after he was unceremoniously dropped following the loss to Russow. A win over Emelianenko could put him on the fast-track to an Octagon return.
On the flip side, a loss to Duffee would likely mean the end of Emelianenko’s once storied career.
Two questions: Are you guys interested in this fight, and if it does happen, who do you see taking it?