It took former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee just 34-seconds to earn his first win since August 2009, after finishing Bellator Season Three finalist Neil Grove by knockout Saturday in India. The two fighters headlined the Super Fight League 2 event from Chandigarh, India with Duffee landing a big right hand sending Grove to the mat. Referee Herb Dean gave Grove a chance to recover but all he did was eat a few hammer fists. This was Duffee’s first win in three bouts and Grove’s third straight loss.
It took former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee just 34-seconds to earn his first win since August 2009, after finishing Bellator Season Three finalist Neil Grove by knockout Saturday in India. The two fighters headlined the Super Fight League 2 event from Chandigarh, India with Duffee landing a big right hand sending Grove to the mat. Referee Herb Dean gave Grove a chance to recover but all he did was eat a few hammer fists. This was Duffee’s first win in three bouts and Grove’s third straight loss.
Press Release – (Mumbai, 4th April 2012) Boom . Pow . Punch Kick Wow! Super Fight League 2 is back this Saturday live from Chandigarh and once again fans from all over the world will be able to tune in and experience the action live and free on YouTube at 18.45 Indian Standard Time (IST) […]
Press Release – (Mumbai, 4th April 2012) Boom . Pow . Punch Kick Wow! Super Fight League 2 is back this Saturday live from Chandigarh and once again fans from all over the world will be able to tune in and experience the action live and free on YouTube at 18.45 Indian Standard Time (IST) 06.15am PDT, 13.15 GMT on Saturday 7th April.
Featuring Duffee v Grove, Kelly v Healy and Shlemenko v Minowa alongside the best domestic talent and top music entertainment, SFL 2 promises to deliver a fantastic night of fights to fans live and free via YouTube.com/SFL.
Duffee v Grove (HW)
Headlining the fight-card will be the SFL debut of one of the most explosive and exciting young heavyweights on the planet today, American Todd Duffee. Renowned within the MMA community for possessing the fastest KO in UFC history. Duffy’s appeal lies in a record that guarantees excitement; every fight he has ever been involved in has ended via knockout.
Up against Duffee is popular UK based South African Neil Grove, boasting an equally exciting record of all 11 wins coming via KO or TKO. Grove is counting on using experience to his advantage and is looking for the KO over Duffee. Both men will be looking to showcase their skills and make an impact with their SFL debuts in a classic crossroads fight.
Kelly v Healy (LW)
The big name fights do not stop there, as also on the card is Englishman Paul Kelly, a noted lightweight fighter famous for putting on exciting bouts thanks to his tenacity and kickboxing skills. A former three time winner of the UFC’s fight of the night award, Kelly specializes in enthralling the crowd. He will get every chance to do so against Ryan Healy. Healy, an aggressive fighter with 10 knockouts to his name is promising a superior ground game following an intensive camp with Team Quest.
Shlemenko v Minowa (MW)
Top ranked MW Alexander Shlemenko is 44-7 at only 27 years old and holds the record for career wins in Bellator. Currently riding a 7 fight win streak, this tough young fighter has a huge fan base in both Russia and Japan and is looking to make his mark against Japanese MMA legend Ikuhisa Minowa (“Minowaman”) Ikuhisa, a veteran of 93 bouts and winner of the DREAM “Super Hulk” Tournament is 7th all time in the history of the sport in wins. This bout will see two of the most experienced fighters in MMA go head to head in a match up that has fight of the night written all over it.
SFL CEO Ken Pavia (@KenPavia) said: ‘As a fight fan how can you not be excited about this card? Arguably the most athletic HW in the game is back in Todd Duffee. He’s taking on Neil Grove – all of Grove’s wins have come by finish inside of two rounds; expect fireworks.’
Pavia continued: ‘One of the biggest names in Russian MMA, Alexander Shlemenko, squares off against one of the biggest names in Japanese MMA. Shlemenko is 20-2 in his last 22 fights and holds the career record for most wins in Bellator history. Minowa has notable wins over Phil Baroni, Don Frye, Gilbert Yvel, and was the DREAM Super Hulk Champion. They have 97 wins between them. Paul Kelly returns after a year layoff to face the durable Ryan Healy in what promises to be a stand and bang affair. Once again this event can be viewed live and for free on YouTube and will be available on archive as well.’
Fight Card:
Paul Kelly V Ryan Healy (LW)
Chaitanya Gavali V Pierre Daguzan (FW)
Bharat Kandare V Soro Ismael (FW)
Alexander Schlemenko V Ikuhisa Minowa (Minowaman) (MW)
Anup Kumar V Dilanga Rathnaweera (Catchweight 132lb)
Ricky Singh V Shalika Senanayake (LW)
Colleen Schneider V Cherie Buck (Catchweight 130lb)
Todd Duffee V Neil Grove (HW)
With one event under their belt, the Indian based Super Fight League promotion is ready to host it’s second show this weekend in Chandigarh, India. Mixed martial arts has yet to make it big in the country of 1.2 billion people but it’s a destination that UFC president Dana White plans on bringing the sport […]
With one event under their belt, the Indian based Super Fight League promotion is ready to host it’s second show this weekend in Chandigarh, India.
Mixed martial arts has yet to make it big in the country of 1.2 billion people but it’s a destination that UFC president Dana White plans on bringing the sport as well as his companies “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.
So it should come as no surprise that when SFL CEO Ken Pavia looks at the country he sees a wealth of “untapped potential” when it comes to fans and upcoming fighters.
Pavia was a guest on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming SFL 2 event this weekend and the “potential” market that India presents for the sport of MMA.
“The first event sold out, no seats were available the day of the event,” Pavia told Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show. “We were on the front page of the Mumbai Times — the No. 1 circulated English newspaper in India — two times the week of the first event. The second event this weekend is sold out. We have seven events the rest of the year, a reality show, and 12 next year. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. The WWE is big out here but it’s starting to wane now that (the Indian fans) have realized it’s fake, so we’re looking to capitalize on it.”
The early success of the SFL is a positive sign for a sport that Pavia says has no real competition in the country.
“Virtually nothing,” Pavia said of what kind of MMA competition his promotion faces in India. “Bellator’s on a very small cable station. This is complete virgin terirtoy. They were confused by the first event and thought it was professional wrestling. It was incumbent upon us to educate them. It’s like 1993 and UFC 1 all over again. But the celebrities we have have brought us attention and our television deal reaches 500 million homes. We’re five times bigger than NBC in the U.S., which reaches 95 million homes. We hope that we’ll get people to watch it for the first time.
“We have 1.2 billion fans here and they pay big money for sporting events. The only thing that’s bigger is cricket and English Premier League soccer. Bollywood sells out all their shows, and we’re looking to take that audience. We have so much untapped potential in our thumbs.”
Not only that, but the goal is to also cultivate the talent that India possesses which, Pavia admits, is raw at this point in time.
“The Indian fighters have always been cannon fodder for fighters in the region and haven’t had a chance to adavnce to bigger shows so the progress has been retarded a little bit,” he said. “I think we have phenomenal athletes in India but they haven’t been exposed to the right trainers or opportunities, so we built an Olympic-style training centre and we have Benji Radach and Dennis Hallman as the coaches for the next few months.We have excellent athletes that are a little bit green, but they have potential.”
Also featured on Tuesday’s Podcast was Bellator fighters Eric Prindle and Travis Marx, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, and New York subway hero Joe Lozito.
Former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee is preparing for his upcoming April 7, 2012 debut with the Super Fight League in India. Duffee is set to face Bellator fighter Neil Grove in the main event. In this interview with ChokeoutTV, Duffee talks about training in the AKA gym with the likes of Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier, as well as his upcoming fight.
Former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee is preparing for his upcoming April 7, 2012 debut with the Super Fight League in India. Duffee is set to face Bellator fighter Neil Grove in the main event. In this interview with ChokeoutTV, Duffee talks about training in the AKA gym with the likes of Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier, as well as his upcoming fight.
Former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee (6-2) will look for his first win since 2009 when he faces former Bellator Season Three Heavyweight Tournament finalist Neil Grove (11-5-1) in the main event of the Super Fight League 2 show this coming weekend in India. Duffee is 0-2 in his last two matches, having been off for […]
Todd Duffee
Former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee (6-2) will look for his first win since 2009 when he faces former Bellator Season Three Heavyweight Tournament finalist Neil Grove (11-5-1) in the main event of the Super Fight League 2 show this coming weekend in India.
Duffee is 0-2 in his last two matches, having been off for more than a year since his last bout, a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem in December 2010 for the DREAM heavyweight title. Duffee had been scheduled to fight last July at DREAM 17 versus Nick Gaston but was forced to withdraw due to injury.
The heavyweight is currently training out of the American Kickboxing Academy gym in San Jose, California in preparation for this fight. He tells Lowkick.com he is hoping to battle three more times this year and wants to prove that he is “better in all categories” than opponent Neil Grove.
What do you know about Neil Grove as a fighter? What are your advantages in this match-up? Neil is tough and game and he comes to fight. I feel all the advantages are mine in this match-up. I am the better athlete, boxer, kickboxer, wrestler, jiu jitsu. I feel like I am better in all categories.
After losing to Mike Russow despite dominating the fight, and getting Alistair Overeem on short notice – do you think like this time you’re finally getting a proper chance to display your skills as a fighter? I am not worried about showing off my skills I am more concerned with winning the fight and staying busy the rest of the year. Eventually people will get to see my skill set the more I fight. I feel each fight is different and I have a lot of different styles and game plans of fighting I am capable of displaying.
What is the biggest difference between the 2010 version of Todd Duffee, and the one who’s going to fight Neil Grove? I do not shave my entire body any more. I mean, I’ve got some incredible training all over the country and landed at the best team in the country. I’m sure I have made some improvements but in all honestly I do not think my skill set has been seen to begin with, so it’s hard to pin point exact things.
What are your goals for 2012 as a fighter? Win this fight and get three more in to finish out the year.
Duffee and Grove meet on April 7, 2012 at the T-Mobile Arena in Chandigarh, India.
Press Release – (Mumbai, 20th March) Following the sell out success of SFL 1, India’s first MMA Organization Super Fight League (SFL) is proud to announce the following fights have been confirmed for SFL 2 taking place on Saturday 7th April: Todd Duffee V Neil Grove, Paul Kelly V Gabe Ruediger and Alexander Shlemenko V […]
Press Release – (Mumbai, 20th March) Following the sell out success of SFL 1, India’s first MMA Organization Super Fight League (SFL) is proud to announce the following fights have been confirmed for SFL 2 taking place on Saturday 7th April: Todd Duffee V Neil Grove, Paul Kelly V Gabe Ruediger and Alexander Shlemenko V Ikuhisa Minowa (Minowaman).
Once again, fans from all over the world can tune in and watch the event live and free on the official SFL YouTube channel: YouTube.com/SFL.
Todd Duffee is a veteran of the UFC and DREAM and still holds the distinction of the fastest ever knock out victory in UFC history when he beat Tim Hague at UFC 102 in 7 seconds. A fearsome striker and talented wrestler, Duffee brings his explosive style to India for the first time and will need all of his skills when he faces UK based South African Neil “Goliath” Grove at Super Fight League 2. A Bellator Season 5 Heavyweight tournament semi finalist and former UCMMA Heavyweight champion, Grove also holds a victory over James “Colossus” Thompson, who beat Bob “The Beast” Sapp at SFL 1. His impressive record features 11 victories, all of which have come via KO or TKO. While nothing is ever certain in MMA, you can bet on fireworks when these two heavy handed fighters meet inside the O-Zone.
Former WEC Lightweight champion Gabe Ruediger had it all, lost it then through grit and determination got himself back to where he wanted to be. Winning 9 straight fights to take the WEC title, Ruediger missed weight on the Ultimate Fighter reality show and left the UFC under a cloud. He went on to put together 6 fight win streak to force his way back into the UFC and proved his doubters wrong. A BJJ black belt and renowned submission specialist, Ruediger also has a number of TKO victories on his record making him a very dangerous man no matter where the fight goes. Two time “Fight of the Night” winner while with the UFC, Paul Kelly doesn’t know how to have a boring fight. The native of Liverpool in England always brings a fearsome edge with him to his fights and likes nothing more than a tough, brutal war with his opponents and revels in pleasing the fans almost as much as he enjoys winning. Previously due to meet at UFC 123, an injury to Ruediger forced the bout to be cancelled. Now they will finally meet under the Super Fight League banner, where Ruediger Vs Kelly promises to be a high class technical battle packed full of excitement and explosiveness.
Alexander Schlemenko has 44 wins despite being only 27 years old. The Bellator Season 5 Middleweight tournament champion has won fights by almost every method there is, with KO victories littering his record alongside several submission victories too. Primarily a striker, Schlemenko has no fear of the ground either, winning the Bellator season 5 tournament by beating 2 time BJJ world champion Vitor Vianna. Currently riding a 7 fight win streak the Russian is only just entering his prime fighting years despite already having more wins than fellow Russian and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. Japanese MMA legend Ikuhisa Minowa or “Minowaman” as he is better known, knows no fear, regularly competing in open weight bouts where his opponents vastly outweigh him. Despite being a natural Middleweight, Ikuhisa, a veteran of 93 bouts, entered and won the DREAM “Superhulk” tournament, beating 330lb SFL 1 headliner, Bob “The Beast” Sapp, in the opening round, 7 foot giant and K-1 striker Hong Man Choi in the semi final and then Pride FC legend Rameau Thierry Sokoudjuo in the final to take home the belt. A legend in Japan and beloved by the fans, Minowaman has incredible grappling skills to go with his fearsome stand up. Schlemenko versus Minowa promises to be a thrilling showdown between two of the most experienced and athletic fighters currently competing in mixed martial arts and one nobody will want to miss.
SFL CEO Ken Pavia said: “I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results of our first event. The Indian fans were gracious and electric. The event was grandiose and unique, not cookie cutter as some organizations have become. The response from the international community was very supportive. The line-up we have put together for SFL 2 shows a continued commitment to bring competitive elite level fights to an international stage for free on behalf of the new and present Indian MMA community. Look for big news in 2012 from the Super Fight League.”
