(Duffee vs. Overeem at Dynamite!! 2010. Match starts around the 5:15 mark. Props: sidiro55)
Bulky UFC vet Todd Duffee has been a ghost since getting stormed by Alistair Overeem last New Year’s Eve in Saitama. But he finally has his next fight booked, and once again it’ll be in front of a Japanese audience. According to Nightmare of Battle, Duffee will compete on the Dream.17 card against undefeated KOTC standout Nick “Afrozilla” Gaston, who had to have been signed at least partly for his nickname.
(For those of you who were just struck by a weird feeling of deja-vu, let us clarify: Dream.17 is the event coming up on July 16th at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. The Dream event that happened on May 29th was known alternately as “Fight for Japan!” and “Japan GP – 2011 Bantamweight Japan Tournament,” even though many people, including ourselves, referred to it as Dream.17. Anyway, we’re back to the numbers now, which are always easier to deal with.)
So what do we know about Gaston? Well, he’s 5-0 (with 1 no-contest), and has spent his entire pro career fighting under the King of the Cage banner. Four of his wins came by stoppage in the first two rounds; one of those wins was a second-round TKO against Darrill “TUF Titties” Schoonover, and he most recently dispatched 2-11 sad-case Jerry Burns at an event in April. Before he started fighting, Gaston wrestled at Ohio State University. In 2009, he appeared on an episode of Bully Beatdown, where he made his bully-victim tap out five times in 96 seconds, then quit before the striking portion of the show.
Afrozilla may not be Ubereem, but he’s certainly legit, and if Duffee wants to snap his two-fight losing streak he’ll have to work for it. Dream.17 is also slated to feature the bantamweight tournament final between Masakazu Imanari and Hideo Tokoro, and Gegard Mousasi’s light-heavyweight title defense against Hiroshi Izumi.
Below: Afrozilla and his afro.
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